After the failure of the pension conclave, fear of a “debt spiral” in France

François Bayrou “will most likely make it through, but not for long,” writes John Lichfield for The Local . On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, the day after the final day of the pensions conference, the Socialist Party (PS) announced its intention to table a motion of censure against the government [which it did on June 26].

But, despite this decision by the Socialist Party – which had made negotiations on the 2023 pension reform conditional on its tacit support for François Bayrou's team – the Prime Minister is unlikely to fall in the coming days, as Marine Le Pen "does not want to bring down the axe yet, for both personal and political reasons," explains the British journalist.

A few weeks ago, the latter nevertheless prophesied: “It is possible that the saga of pension reform will be put on ice for a few years.” Today, and even if he still considers that the reform imposed by Élisabeth Borne was “timid and insufficient”, it is clear that he was “too optimistic” in his analysis.

But, since the pensions conclave did not result in any compromise, the elected members of the socialist group “are very angry, or pretend to be,” notes the correspondent.