French prime minister to meet pension negotiators after talks fail
Months-long talks between French trade unions and employers over reforms to the pension system collapsed late on Monday, prompting Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to summon both sides to find a way forward.
The so-called pension conclave’s failure puts Bayrou in a vulnerable position, as his government can fall anytime if left-wing and far-right parties band together to back a motion of no-confidence.
The hard-left France Unbowed has said it will call a confidence vote, and the Socialists are split. However, Marine Le Pen’s far-right legislators have signalled they will let the government survive for now.
Socialist leader Olivier Faure said his party would back a motion of no-confidence if Bayrou refused to let parliament have the last say on pensions if Tuesday’s talks failed.
“I see a prime minister who is playing for time,” Faure said.
Crucially, Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a senior RN lawmaker, told France Inter radio on Sunday his party had not drawn “red lines” on the result of the conclave, and would wait for Bayrou’s budget presentation next month to decide whether to give the government the thumbs-down.
In what were billed as last-chance talks, pension negotiators were unable to agree on how to amend an unpopular 2023 overhaul of the pension system that will gradually raise the retirement age to 64 from 62.
Unions wanted to allow workers with physically taxing jobs to retire earlier, and to give more weight to maternity leave, while employers were wary of concessions that could weigh on the system’s finances.
Bayrou said the “difficult search for new solutions” would continue. His office said he would meet with unions at midday.
The centrist and long-time debt hawk has said all options are on the table as long as a pension funding gap is plugged by the end of the decade.
He had called the “conclave” in a bid to prevent the Socialists withdrawing their support for him.
Bayrou took office in December, after lawmakers from the far-right and far-left joined forces to oust Michel Barnier over budget cuts. Negotiations for next year’s budget in the autumn could be just as tricky.
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