It is the gesture that could tip the conflict over. In a letter to union organizations, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that he was prepared to temporarily remove the pivotal age from the bill. The withdrawal of this so-called economic measure, which was to gradually encourage the French to leave at 64 years under pain of being inflicted a penalty, could allow the government to regain the support of the reforming unions.
"To demonstrate my confidence in the social partners, and not to prejudge the outcome of their work concerning the measures to be taken to achieve balance in 2027, I am prepared to withdraw from the bill the short-term measure which I 'had proposed, consisting in gradually converging from 2022 towards an equilibrium age of 64 years in 2027', writes in particular the head of government. Clearly, while retaining the principle of a balanced age, the government is temporarily withdrawing one of the most disputed points from the project.
Specified timetable
A conference on balance and the financing of pensions "will postpone its conclusions by the end of April 2020," said Prime Minister Edouard Philippe. This schedule will allow the conclusions of the conference to be taken into account before the vote on the pension reform bill at second reading. The head of government also proposes that this conference, requested by the CFDT, be moderated by Jean-Jacques Marette, former director general of Agirc-Arrco.
Édouard Philippe had committed himself Friday at the end of a new bilateral marathon day with the social partners to address Saturday to the trade unions and employers' "in writing concrete proposals" which could form "the basis of a compromise".
Philippe Martinez (CGT), at the forefront of the mobilization against the reform, had reiterated this Saturday that his organization had "not changed his mind" after 5 weeks of conflict, Yves Veyrier (FO), even qualifying the pension reform of "worst idea of this quinquennium". The CFDT, favorable to the points regime but firmly opposed to the pivotal age, organized its own rallies on Saturday, including one in Paris in the morning, to distribute leaflets and have a petition signed to demand its withdrawal.
