It’s a phrase uttered in the National Assembly that didn’t make a lot of noise but could have some unfortunate consequences for the government. Friday, February 17, on the occasion of a point of order, the socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj gets up from his bench and speaks.
He recalls that, the day before, in his capacity as vice-president of the mission of evaluation and control of social security (MECSS), he pushed the door of the direction of Social Security. The MP for Essonne wanted to understand which pensions would be affected by the pension increase.
At the microphone, he also slips, in conclusion, that after this “descent” he took a trip to Matignon. Jérôme Guedj had an appointment, at the end of the day, with the secretary general of the government, Claire Landais. She had no choice: by virtue of his power of control, the vice-president of the MECSS wants to obtain a confidential document, which could weaken the pension reform.
The document in question is the opinion of the Council of State concerning the social security financing bill, otherwise summarized in PLFSS. It is through this legislative vehicle that the government intends to reform the general system – and some special systems – of pensions.
Laurent Fabius, the President of the Constitutional Council, did he not privately express doubts about the constitutionality of several articles, which would not have their place in a financing law but rather in an ordinary law? The opinion of the Council of State seems to confirm the fears of Laurent Fabius.
The deputy from Essonne intends to use the arguments of the Council of State to counter the pension reform project when the text returns to the National Assembly, after the discussion in the Senate. Jérôme Guedj also wants to rely on this opinion during a future appeal to the Constitutional Council.
Consult our file: Pensions: the big bang
