French PM suspends Macron's pension plan before no-confidence vote

"France's prime minister, Sebastien Lecornu, has suspended Emmanuel Macron's flagship 2023 pension reform until after the 2027 presidential election in the hope of winning over enough Socialist deputies to survive a no-confidence vote. The far-right National Rally (RN) and radical left Unbowed France (LFI) have already filed no-confidence motions for later this week that Lecornu will lose without the support of the Socialist party (PS), which has also warned it could submit its own motion."

"The prime minister, who resigned last Monday but was reappointed by the French president on Friday, faces a struggle to pass an austerity budget for next year through France's deeply divided parliament, in which no single group has a majority. He made the pension announcement widely seen as an acknowledgment by Macron that freezing the reform, which raised the age of retirement in stages from 62 to 64, was the only way to ensure Lecornu's survival in parliament on Tuesday."

"The unpopular reform, forced through parliament without a vote, had been seen as one of Macron's main economic legacies. The finance minister, Roland Lescure, warned last week that suspending it would cost billions by 2027. Lecornu said the suspension would cost 400m (348m) in 2026 and 1.8bn the following year, and would benefit 3.5 million people. It will therefore have to be financially compensated, including through cost-saving measures, he said."

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu suspended the 2023 pension reform until after the 2027 presidential election to try to win Socialist Party support and survive looming no-confidence motions. The far-right National Rally and Unbowed France have filed no-confidence motions that Lecornu cannot defeat without Socialist backing, and the Socialist party has warned it could table its own motion. Lecornu resigned last week and was reappointed, and now faces passing an austerity budget through a deeply divided hung parliament. The suspension pauses retirement-age increases until January 2028, will cost hundreds of millions to billions by 2027, benefit 3.5 million people, and requires financial compensation and savings measures.

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