The Social Security budget for 2025 was approved in the Senate, by a clear majority (202 votes to 109), on Tuesday, November 26. As expected, supporters of the government camp, the majority in the chamber, approved the text with the votes of the right and the centrists.
On the other hand, the small Macronist group, which includes about twenty senators, mostly abstained, thus sending a warning signal to the Government, on the eve of a crucial meeting, on Wednesday at 2 p.m., between deputies and senators, responsible for reaching a compromise version agreement during a joint committee (CMP).
“Our group cannot be satisfied with the labor-saving measures adopted by the government”launched the senator from the group Grouping of Democrats, Progressives and Independents.
An important divergence persists in an emblematic measure: the reduction of reductions in company contributions. The government proposed an effort of 4 billion euros for companies, the Senate reduced it to 3 billion… but the Renaissance parliamentarians continue to demand the total suppression of the measure.
Therefore, negotiations could extend to the CMP, where coalition troops will be the majority. The threat would come from the deputies of the Ensemble pour la République (EPR): could they block any agreement?
“If the CMP fails because of the EPR, it is a political risk”
On Tuesday morning, in a group meeting, they were undecided. “The group wishes to continue discussions”even with the government and senators, a participant told Agence France-Presse (AFP). “We continue to increase the pressure”It means another in the AFP. The EPR deputies plan to meet again on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning.
If the CMP were to fail, it would not be “It’s not the end of the world. But if it fails because of the EPR, it is a political risk.”Budget Minister Laurent Saint-Martin stated during the meeting, according to his entourage. “More generally, what is at stake is the existence of a “common basis””he added.
According to several participants in the meeting contacted by AFP, former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne flatly disapproved, in essence, of the State and Social Security budget, as well as the method of government, although, according to her entourage, she was opposed to making fail the CMP.
“If we all arrive with our impenetrable red lines, there will never be an agreement. At that time, we shouldn’t get on the same boat.”warned Marc Fesneau, president of the MoDem deputies. Michel Barnier “He said he was willing to go the extra mile, but he didn’t quantify it.”another government executive reported on condition of anonymity.
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For Laurent Saint-Martin, a “good consensus” could be released in CMP by reducing “a little more than half” of the effort required of companies, that is, 1,500 million compared to the 4 initially.
A reduction of one billion euros in the deficit, according to the government
In the coalition ranks, many have warned of the importance of an agreement in the CMP, while the threat of censure is increasingly pressing, with the National Rally willing to vote in favor if it is not heard. If the use of 49.3 seems inevitable, activating it in a consensus text may seem less arrogant than a forced approval without prior agreement between the two chambers.
The Senate copy, in any case, remains quite faithful to the initial project, assuming savings of billions while social finances are at half-mast. According to the Government, the examination of the text in the Senate made it possible to reduce the planned Social Security deficit by an additional billion, estimated at 15 billion, compared to 16 billion according to the initial objective and 18.5 billion in 2024. .
Retirees, insured people, companies, patients, health professionals… They all participate in the text full of measures considered sensitive even in the new coalition and denounced by the left. “The government has given in to internal political battles due to its unstable common base”Socialist senator Annie Le Houérou was outraged.
Plans to increase pensions to half inflation on 1Ahem January, then a second half on the 1stAhem July only for pensions below the minimum wage. The Senate also approved several taxes on soft drinks, tobacco and gambling, as well as a contribution of seven hours of “solidarity” per year worked without remuneration by all employees to finance the dependency, a measure highly criticized by the left, but which could disappear from the final copy.
