Pensions: Assembly rejects Socialist motion of censure against François Bayrou

On Tuesday, July 1, the National Assembly rejected a motion of censure of the Bayrou government, supported by the Socialists, who criticized the Prime Minister for not committing to submitting to Parliament a text allowing for debate on the legal retirement age.

Unsurprisingly, the motion of censure supported by the entire left received only 189 votes out of the 289 needed to bring down the government, with the National Rally announcing that it would not vote for it, and postponing a possible censure until the budget debates in the autumn.

Almost five months after their non-censorship agreement to allow the State and Social Security budgets to pass, the Socialists accused the Prime Minister of "treason" , against the backdrop of the conclave on pensions between social partners, which concluded without an agreement.

The Socialists criticize François Bayrou for having promised in his initial letter a discussion between social partners "without totem or taboo" , and for having promised the "last word in Parliament" , before closing the door to a lowering of the legal retirement age and to the idea of ​​submitting a text containing the age measure to Parliament. However, the Prime Minister set as a condition in his letter "a political agreement and (a) maintained overall financial balance" .

"By breaking your promise, you have chosen dishonour," declared socialist Estelle Mercier from the podium, in defence of the motion of censure, associating this expert on Henri IV with the figure of a "Ravaillac" , who "stabbed the list of (his) commitments" .

In response, François Bayrou mocked the motion of censure, which he said was a pretext for the Socialist Party to remind people that it was "in opposition" , and invoked "the duty" of "the general interest" , "stronger than all threats" of censure.

On the substance, he defended the progress made during the conclave that he intends to present to Parliament in the autumn in the Social Security budget , in particular for a retirement without reduction at 66 and a half years, or for women's pensions. And the head of government insisted on the financial balance of the pension system, under penalty of provoking "a war of the generations" : "If no one warns, if no one listens, we will lose ourselves in over-indebtedness" . "The reality is that our pension system is mortgaging our future and that of our children" , added Stéphane Vojetta, affiliated with the Macronist group.

The left also attacked the National Rally. "In this series of detestable maneuvers, you have a definite support, the National Rally," which "will not repeal the pension reform," Hadrien Clouet (LFI) said from the podium. "For all National Rally voters, this vote will serve as a revelation. Le Pen-Bardella are on the social, economic, and fiscal fronts, the continuation of Macron-Bayrou," responded the head of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure.

"We are committed to reversing a reform that is (…) useless (…) ineffective" and "deeply unfair," RN speaker Gaëtan Dussausaye had previously stated. But above all, he gave "an appointment at the budget," listing a series of "red lines" : "new blows against the purchasing power of the French" and "additional taxes or duties on businesses until you reduce the state's standard of living."

He also mentioned the "social VAT" . In response to the idea of ​​a "blank year" , which would consist of freezing pensions, social benefits and the income tax scale, to make savings, he replied that the RN would only support "a blank year for the French net contribution to the European Union budget" .

Finally, on the energy issue, he stated that his group did not want "a decree on multi-year energy programming to evacuate in a few seconds an essential element of French sovereignty" , while debates on this subject are due to resume in the Assembly in September.

And the autumn promises to be stormy for the Prime Minister, who will have to navigate between threats of censure to find 40 billion euros of savings . With the most minimalist support from the central bloc, quick to tear itself apart. "In any case, he will fall. The only question is when. If it is in the autumn, it is in the nature of things," thinks a Macronist executive. "François Bayrou has been threatened with censure since the day after his appointment," philosophizes Patrick Mignola, Minister of Relations with Parliament and close to the Prime Minister, promising "a courageous budget."