Asked this morning by RTL, the government spokesman, Olivier Véran, explained that the government will not be able to convince opponents and unions, with the wind against its pension reform.
The government, it seems, has given up all hope of quickly changing the opinion of the “oppositions and the unions” against their (yet unspecified) pensions. “They will not change their minds”, regardless of the timetable finally chosen for it to be adopted, government spokesman Olivier Véran said on Friday, adding that the choice of method would be announced in a few days. “Those who tell you today that they oppose working more, actually prefer that we raise taxes or increase the debt. It is not our choice. The question is whether we can convince them, in a month or three. Months or in six months?” asked Olivier Véran at the RTL microphone.
Necessary reform
Modification of the Autumn Social Security budget or ad hoc text of the beginning of 2023, “those who prefer to raise taxes, raise the debt will not change their minds, it must be said, in the coming months”, he has completed. . while she demands that it be done “in the most peaceful way possible”, she is due to have lunch on Friday with Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne to discuss this particular issue according to Olivier Véran.
Postponement of retirement age
After having received most of the parliamentary groups during the last two days, Elisabeth Borne “will have to make a decision that she will explain in a few days,” the spokeswoman said. Beyond that, she defended the principle of a measure to lower the legal retirement age. “The big difference with all our partners and all our neighbors, and also with most Western countries, is this retirement age, it’s this working time,” she explained. “We are talking about rebalancing things little by little (…) because for us it is a dogma, a base, and we are not going to back down: we are not going to raise taxes, we want to lower them and I do not want any more increase[…]