"Everyone expected us to fail and we failed": Black smoke at the end of the pension conclave

After four long months of discussions, black smoke rose from the conclave. This is the term François Bayrou used in his general policy speech to describe the social partners' negotiations on Élisabeth Borne's pension reform . As of 10:30 p.m. on Monday, June 23, the social partners had not reached a common ground to amend the reform. Unions and employers' organizations could only note that they were at an impasse.

Also read : Pensions: François Bayrou suspended on an agreement and threats of censorship

This latest meeting of the pension conclave had already started badly... on the sidewalk. Shortly before 3 p.m., Patrick Martin, the president of Medef , and Amir Reza-Tofighi, president of the CPME (the confederation of small and medium-sized enterprises), arrived side by side in front of 20 avenue de Ségur, the venue for discussions since February 27. With a joint text under their arms, the two employer leaders were keen to display their unity, which has been far from evident since the beginning of the negotiations. "You see, we are together," repeated Patrick Martin. "We have shared a common position from the beginning, which was to say that we must not degrade the financial balance and nor increase the cost of labor," added his counterpart from the CPME, to complete the picture. A few meters away, Yvan Ricordeau, representatives of the CFDT, and Christelle Thieffinne, of the CFE-CGC, watched the scene, visibly disgruntled. "The employers' side is not playing the game," the union representative complains, as the two leaders of the employers' camp detail their proposals.

" It's a way to torpedo the negotiation ," added the Cédétist negotiator before challenging Patrick Martin, in front of the press: " Are the negotiations taking place on the text that we've been discussing for four months? " " We're not going to hold the negotiation here ," replied the head of the Medef. " Why did the employers' side try it on the sidewalk, then? " asked the union representative. " What is this ambush they're trying to set for me?" , Patrick Martin smiled to cut short before making his way through the journalists. After this eventful preamble, the discussions, the real ones, could finally begin, with different texts on each side of the table. On the union side, the compromise drafted by Jean-Jacques Marette, the discussion leader, and his teams. On the opposite side, a text drafted by the Medef and the CPME.

"I wonder if from the first day, the employers' organizations wanted an agreement ."

Pascale Coton, negotiator for the CFTC.

Finally, at the end of the evening, the social partners acknowledged their disagreement. "When we started, everyone expected us to fail and we failed, no one is surprised," smiled a rueful Eric Chevée. "There will be no agreement on improving the 2023 reform," Yves Ricordeau soberly stated. "I wonder if the employers' organizations wanted an agreement from the first day," added Pascale Coton, negotiator for the CFTC. The three union organizations blamed the failure on the employers, accusing them of having "closed the door on the unions," particularly on the subject of hardship and the financing of the rebalancing of the pension system.

Regarding hardship, unions have been insisting since the beginning of negotiations that certain criteria be better taken into account in early retirement. Employers' organizations rejected this position, preferring to focus on prevention rather than compensation.

On the financing of the model's deficit (estimated by the Court of Auditors at €6.5 billion by 2030) and the reform's adjustments, the social partners also parted ways. The Béarnais had set as a condition for "his" conclave that it should not jeopardize the financial balance of the 2023 reform . "We were not able to increase employer and employee contributions," repeated Diane Milleron-Deperrois, a negotiator for Medef.

"We can't say that the Medef (French employers' association) hasn't made any very concrete proposals, " she added during her press conference. "We even took some steps in today's session." The representative of the leading employers' organization notably mentioned the return of the reduction age (the age at which insured persons are entitled to a full pension, even if they don't have the required number of quarters to be eligible) to 66 and a half (compared to 67 today).

Eric Chevée, vice-president of the CPME, for his part pointed to the increase in the social security contribution, still present in Jean-Jacques Marette's text, as a partial explanation for the failure of the discussions. "Put yourself in our shoes, we cannot put forward the idea of ​​a text that increases corporate tax by 10%," he said, while a measure proposed increasing this contribution paid by the employer on certain premiums exempt from social security contributions from 20 to 22%. The employers' representative did not, however, close the door to a new discussion. "I regret [the failure of the negotiations - Editor's note] but I think that the subject will come up anyway, " he assured. "The worst thing would be to leave it to the politicians."

At the end of this final meeting, Jean-Jacques Marette called the Prime Minister to inform him of the failure of the negotiations. "If there is an agreement (at the conclave), there will be a debate in Parliament, but I will not restart work if there is no agreement," François Bayrou reminded the deputies on Tuesday, June 17. The Prime Minister had proposed this discussion to give a pledge to the socialists and thus give his government a reprieve. The question of censure, already promised by the LFI deputies, will now return in force.