Edouard Philippe assured Thursday, February 2 on BFM-TV that he supported “unambiguously, without flat, without I don’t know what small convolution” the pension reform carried out by the government, which “aims to restore financial balance” and ” try to correct some injustices”.

At the start of his long interview, filmed in his city councilor’s office in Le Havre, he thus affirmed that this pension reform “is important, difficult, contested but necessary”.

“I will try to say why it seems to me that this reform is necessary, why it is good for the nation, and why people (…) must take into account the demographic, financial and economic reality. (…) There are advances in this text, there will undoubtedly be others during the discussion in Parliament. »

Known for being a supporter of a postponement of the retirement age to “to 65, 66 or 67 years old”, Edouard Philippe has been criticized in recent weeks within the majority for his weak media support for the pension reform brought by the current government, which provides for the postponement of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. On Thursday, he tried to change this image, welcoming the decision of the majority to “commit[r] at the start of the five-year term” in this project. However, he again considered that this reform is “more limited in its ambitions (…) than the 2019 reform”, carried by his government, which provided for the abolition of the forty-two special regimes and the implementation of a regime universal.

“Trust in Parliamentary Debate”

Asked about the broad mobilization against the pension reform, the mayor of Le Havre acknowledged the “strong opposition of the French” to the bill, citing the example of his city where 13,000 people demonstrated on Tuesday, “unheard of” , according to him, for more than twenty years that he has been mayor.

While voices critical of the pension reform were raised within the Horizons group in the National Assembly, some threatening not to vote for the reform as it stands, Mr. Phillipe assured: “I do not believe that there are refractories. (…) Horizons MPs will loyally participate in this debate. »

The former head of government pleaded his “confidence in the parliamentary debate” and wished that the text be enriched during its passage in the Hemicycle, in particular to “correct some injustices” which could nestle in its current version.

“Let us beware (…) that, anxious to ensure that the reform is better accepted, and anxious to ensure that there is more justice, which is never a bad objective, we lose sight of the system balance imperative. »

As for the supposed support of Les Républicains (LR) deputies for the reform, necessary for the government so that the text can be adopted, Mr. Philippe, from the ranks of the right, assured: “I think that in the end, Les Republicans will take responsibility. »