The bill to reform the French pension system arrived at the National Assembly for examination on Monday, February 6th, and will remain under discussion until February 17th. Since then, the debates have taken place in a particularly stormy atmosphere, showing a serious deterioration in the political climate. In the streets, the days of mobilisation follow one after another with no sign of losing steam.
Reform of the pension system is a major part of Emmanuel Macron’s agenda for his new five-year term, as he was unable to achieve success on the subject during his previous term. The project has aroused strong opposition from both the Left and the Right. In the absence of an absolute majority in the assembly, the government party must strategise how to rally a sufficient number of deputies to its legal text.
On Saturday, February 11th, the fourth day of mobilisation against the bill was held, with strikes and demonstrations in Paris and throughout France. According to the ministry of interior, the demonstrations gathered 963,000 people in France, including 93,000 in Paris. The CGT union said there were 500,000 people in the Paris march, and “more than 2.5 million” nationwide. Whatever the source, the figures at the national level are higher than those of the previous day on February 7th, which proves that the movement is not weakening. The unions have been very clear on this subject: if the government does not back down, the movement is likely to become even tougher, since the heads of the various unions are unanimous in their views. Laurent Berger, the secretary general of the CFDT (Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail), announced that the country would be “brought to a standstill” on March 7th, i.e., when the school holidays were over. However, the exact details of this large-scale day of mobilisation are not yet known.
The debate in the national assembly is testing the two main opposition groups, the Rassemblement National on the Right, and the NUPES coalition on the Left. The two camps have chosen radically different strategies to challenge the bill.
The NUPES chose to play the card of parliamentary obstruction. The left-wing coalition presented several thousand amendments—17,000—to modify the initial text, making its examination long and tedious, if not almost impossible, within the allotted time. However, this figure is still below the 41,000 amendments presented in 2020 during the attempt to review the previous pension reform. Conversely, the Rassemblement National has chosen to offer up only a few targeted amendments—200 at most—aimed at hitting the points, according to them, that are most objectionable in the reform: the retirement age, the hardship criterion, and the measures encouraging a higher birth rate.
In the battle currently underway in the hemicycle of the Palais Bourbon, all blows seem to be allowed. A few days ago, the Rassemblement National was the victim of a particularly pernicious manoeuvre: as the referendum motion presented by the national right-wing party was due to be put to the vote—with the aim of obtaining the organisation of a referendum on the bill—several female MPs received calls on their personal mobile phones, instructing them to leave the chamber as soon as possible because of the hospitalisation of one of their relatives. The scam was intended to frustrate the vote, which can only take place in the presence of the MPs who had drafted the motion. The particularly vicious procedure was denounced by Marine Le Pen, leader of the Rassemblement National, who announced her intention to file a complaint. The press was able to listen to the incriminating messages and see that this was not a fabrication of the Rassemblement National, but a political manipulation.
The scandalous nature of the ploy triggered a wave of protests from MPs on the Right and Left, who were forced to support the attacked Rassemblement National. Members of the Renaissance presidential group explained that they too had been subjected to attempts of intimidation.
The source of the phone messages has not yet been identified, but the president of the Rassemblement National, Jordan Bardella, strongly suspects the NUPES group, whose brutal methods are making headlines every day.
In this battle, the Rassemblement National has everything to gain in terms of image, because it embodies a form of measure and responsibility—which goes against the portrait that the press traditionally likes to paint of the party of the national Right. An article published in Le Monde in mid-January went so far as to consider that Marine Le Pen’s opposition to the pension reform could provide the stepping stone to her election in 2027. The outrage that is growing in the ranks of the NUPES may end up doing her a favour, by highlighting her moderation. The latest outburst led to the exclusion of La France Insoumise MP Thomas Portes from the assembly for having posted a picture on Twitter, with his foot on a balloon bearing the image of Olivier Dussopt, the Minister of Labour, with a caption suggesting that this member of the government deserved to have his head cut off.
For the time being, the French political class has not come out of these tumultuous exchanges any better. The first to suffer has been President Emmanuel Macron, whose approval rating has been falling since the beginning of 2023. Yet no opposition figure, from the Right or the Left, is clearly benefiting from this popularity backsliding. Marine Le Pen has stepped into second position on the podium of the favourite personalities of the French with 36%, behind former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, with 45%, who continues to emit a safe familiarity belonging to a blessed time before the crisis.
Nevertheless, the Rassemblement National, regardless of their perceived temperance, fails to inspire confidence: on the issue of pensions, 42% of the French consider that the party would do worse than the current government.
French Assembly Poisoned by Debates Over Pension Reform
Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP
The bill to reform the French pension system arrived at the National Assembly for examination on Monday, February 6th, and will remain under discussion until February 17th. Since then, the debates have taken place in a particularly stormy atmosphere, showing a serious deterioration in the political climate. In the streets, the days of mobilisation follow one after another with no sign of losing steam.
Reform of the pension system is a major part of Emmanuel Macron’s agenda for his new five-year term, as he was unable to achieve success on the subject during his previous term. The project has aroused strong opposition from both the Left and the Right. In the absence of an absolute majority in the assembly, the government party must strategise how to rally a sufficient number of deputies to its legal text.
On Saturday, February 11th, the fourth day of mobilisation against the bill was held, with strikes and demonstrations in Paris and throughout France. According to the ministry of interior, the demonstrations gathered 963,000 people in France, including 93,000 in Paris. The CGT union said there were 500,000 people in the Paris march, and “more than 2.5 million” nationwide. Whatever the source, the figures at the national level are higher than those of the previous day on February 7th, which proves that the movement is not weakening. The unions have been very clear on this subject: if the government does not back down, the movement is likely to become even tougher, since the heads of the various unions are unanimous in their views. Laurent Berger, the secretary general of the CFDT (Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail), announced that the country would be “brought to a standstill” on March 7th, i.e., when the school holidays were over. However, the exact details of this large-scale day of mobilisation are not yet known.
The debate in the national assembly is testing the two main opposition groups, the Rassemblement National on the Right, and the NUPES coalition on the Left. The two camps have chosen radically different strategies to challenge the bill.
The NUPES chose to play the card of parliamentary obstruction. The left-wing coalition presented several thousand amendments—17,000—to modify the initial text, making its examination long and tedious, if not almost impossible, within the allotted time. However, this figure is still below the 41,000 amendments presented in 2020 during the attempt to review the previous pension reform. Conversely, the Rassemblement National has chosen to offer up only a few targeted amendments—200 at most—aimed at hitting the points, according to them, that are most objectionable in the reform: the retirement age, the hardship criterion, and the measures encouraging a higher birth rate.
In the battle currently underway in the hemicycle of the Palais Bourbon, all blows seem to be allowed. A few days ago, the Rassemblement National was the victim of a particularly pernicious manoeuvre: as the referendum motion presented by the national right-wing party was due to be put to the vote—with the aim of obtaining the organisation of a referendum on the bill—several female MPs received calls on their personal mobile phones, instructing them to leave the chamber as soon as possible because of the hospitalisation of one of their relatives. The scam was intended to frustrate the vote, which can only take place in the presence of the MPs who had drafted the motion. The particularly vicious procedure was denounced by Marine Le Pen, leader of the Rassemblement National, who announced her intention to file a complaint. The press was able to listen to the incriminating messages and see that this was not a fabrication of the Rassemblement National, but a political manipulation.
The scandalous nature of the ploy triggered a wave of protests from MPs on the Right and Left, who were forced to support the attacked Rassemblement National. Members of the Renaissance presidential group explained that they too had been subjected to attempts of intimidation.
The source of the phone messages has not yet been identified, but the president of the Rassemblement National, Jordan Bardella, strongly suspects the NUPES group, whose brutal methods are making headlines every day.
In this battle, the Rassemblement National has everything to gain in terms of image, because it embodies a form of measure and responsibility—which goes against the portrait that the press traditionally likes to paint of the party of the national Right. An article published in Le Monde in mid-January went so far as to consider that Marine Le Pen’s opposition to the pension reform could provide the stepping stone to her election in 2027. The outrage that is growing in the ranks of the NUPES may end up doing her a favour, by highlighting her moderation. The latest outburst led to the exclusion of La France Insoumise MP Thomas Portes from the assembly for having posted a picture on Twitter, with his foot on a balloon bearing the image of Olivier Dussopt, the Minister of Labour, with a caption suggesting that this member of the government deserved to have his head cut off.
For the time being, the French political class has not come out of these tumultuous exchanges any better. The first to suffer has been President Emmanuel Macron, whose approval rating has been falling since the beginning of 2023. Yet no opposition figure, from the Right or the Left, is clearly benefiting from this popularity backsliding. Marine Le Pen has stepped into second position on the podium of the favourite personalities of the French with 36%, behind former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, with 45%, who continues to emit a safe familiarity belonging to a blessed time before the crisis.
Nevertheless, the Rassemblement National, regardless of their perceived temperance, fails to inspire confidence: on the issue of pensions, 42% of the French consider that the party would do worse than the current government.
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