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Writer's pictureMatthew Warren

Pension reform: what next?


Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne making her case


France has been gripped for months with protests over Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to raise the pension age from 62 to 64. As well as strikes by transport workers, teachers and rubbish collectors, hundreds of thousands of people have turned out to demonstrate in the streets.


The president himself has tried to stay above the fray, preferring to give the task of convincing voters and parliamentarians to his prime minister, Elisabeth Borne.


After months of debate, things came to a head today with the planned vote in the National Assembly. Up to just minutes before, it was unclear whether a vote would go ahead or whether the prime minister would resort to the now infamous article 49.3.


Elisabeth Borne got up to speak in the parliament against a background of boos, jeers and spirited singing of La Marseillaise. She defended her government's attempts to build a compromise on the issue before announcing what everyone already knew. She would be activating 49.3.

So what is article 49.3?

In short, it’s a way for the government to get its law onto the statute books without a vote. That might seem like a strange way to run a parliamentary democracy and it’s not quite as straightforward as it seems.


The government can use article 49.3 to push through laws relating to the government’s budget and funding for social security without facing any consequences. Elisabeth Borne has done that ten times already since taking on the role of prime minister. However, beyond those two areas, a government can only use the article once in any single parliamentary session. That change was introduced in 2008. Before that, governments could use it as often as they liked.


Not only is the usage limited but the government also faces another hurdle. If they use article 49.3, they then face the risk of a censure motion. That means that the whole parliament gets to vote on whether or not they should remain in office. If they lose, the prime minister is compelled to present her resignation and that of the whole government to the president. Plus, the law does not get passed. So far, that hasn't happened. Most pundits suggest it won't happen this time either as not enough of the centre-right Républicains will opt to throw out the government. Yet, there's no room for complacency on the part of the government at this stage.


So the stakes are high. For a censure motion to be put to the National Assembly, ten percent of members have to agree to it, which shouldn’t be a problem given how many are opposed to the pension changes. The motion has to be requested within 24 hours of the use of article 49.3, which will be at 3.20pm on Friday 17 March.


If you fancy reading a bit more about article 49.3, here’s a link to the French government website explaining it.



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