The National Assembly approved on Monday, November 4, with the votes of the left, a profoundly revised version of the “income” part of the Social Security budget for 2025, against the opposition of Macronist and right-wing deputies who voted against . The modified text, which provides between 17,000 and 20,000 million additional contributions according to the deputies, was approved by 126 votes ” For “ and 98 ” against “. This will allow the Assembly to begin examining the “expenditure” part of the text in the afternoon.
By significantly increasing contributions to capital income or dividends, the left has “reasonably released (…) a level of funding for social protection and social security commensurate with needs”greeted the socialist Jérôme Guedj.
The elected officials of “base” The government has criticized a text “Emptied of its meaning and of all political and budgetary seriousness”summarized by François Gernigon (Horizons). “You have created taxes and charges for almost 17 billion”lamented Thibault Bazin (LR) addressing the elected officials of the New Popular Front (NFP). “And there the victims are not the rich, they are the working middle classes”he stated, criticizing a text that “it no longer looks like anything”.
Tacit support of the RN
“The debacle for the government is total! “We have transformed the income part of the Social Security budget at the service of the redistribution and distribution of wealth”On the 10th, he greeted the LFI deputy, Clémence Guette, who chaired the session. “There is a majority to govern based on the program of the New Popular Front”his colleague from the North, Aurélien Le Coq, was delighted.
To obtain this favorable vote, the New Popular Front had to count on the abstention of the National Group. The RN, which had criticized the government’s initial text, also denounced “The fiscal madness that the left has imposed”. But he chose to abstain so as not to prematurely end the debates: the party’s rejection “recipes” in fact it would have led to the entire text.
This tacit support from RN allowed the left in particular to obtain, shortly before, a symbolic victory in the pension reform, with the adoption of amendments that opposed the reform.
These socialist, rebel and communist amendments, adopted by 178 votes to 76, modify an annex to the text, repealing the increase in the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years. “Let’s go for the symbol, let’s vote for this amendment”announced RN deputy Matías Renault. The Minister of Budget, Laurent Saint-Martin, invited the PS not to sink “in demagoguery with this amendment”. “Instead, support those responsible in this matter by reducing our public deficits”said.
“Today is a first symbolic step”stressed LFI deputy Manuel Bompard when meeting with deputies on November 28 to examine a LFI bill that also proposes repealing the reform, which will have a chance of being approved.
