Pensions: the debates skate in the Senate, which is now working on special regimes

Debates on pension reform got bogged down in the Senate on Friday. The introductory article of the bill on deficit forecasts was voted only in the evening, after numerous interventions from the left, radically opposed to the passage of the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years. The same morning, the hemicycle had already rejected a request for a referendum made by the left.

“We will not take the bad potion that you want to give us”, warned the socialist Laurence Rossignol: this reform is “9 volumes of vinegar for a volume of glucose, not even syrup”.

The debates have so far been very serene, even dull, but the hemicycle came alive in the evening when Bruno Sido (LR) took the floor to draw a parallel between the dozens of identical amendments defended by the left and “ the impression that the French people retain of the National Assembly”, evoking a “cordial obstruction”.

The left has criticized the right for its “passivity”, for having “the Retailleau gag on its mouth”, said Yan Chantrel. “Do like Mr. Pradié! “Launched the PS senator to his LR colleagues. “You want to obstruct, we don’t”, released the leader of senators LR Bruno Retailleau on Saturday.

Review of special diets

The Senate has been immersing itself, since this Saturday, in the examination of one of the most sensitive measures of the pension reform project: the end of several special regimes. To put pressure, electricians and gas workers, affected by this disappearance, began a renewable strike on Friday. It leads to reductions in electricity production in several nuclear power plants, the equivalent of three reactors, without causing cuts for customers.

The left defends in vain amendments to delete Article 1 of the government bill, devoted to the gradual extinction of the five special regimes (electricity and gas industries, RATP, Banque de France, clerks and employees of notaries, members of the Economic Council , social and environmental). It is thus planned that agents recruited from September 2023 will be affiliated to the common law scheme for old-age insurance.

Bruno Retailleau would like these special schemes to be abolished for current employees as well, but his proposal will be examined later. The government is against, and its amendment could be rejected, for lack of support from the centrists.

Some 300 amendments remained on the menu for the day of Saturday or even Sunday on this article 1. According to an old trucker, “it will disgorge all weekend”.