Lack of knowledge, bad faith or political struggle? “A law promulgated in the middle of the night, like thieves”, denounces, for example, Fabien Roussel, national secretary of the PCF. “Night and day, this reform is unfair!”, Adds the secretary general of the CFDT Laurent Berger. The promulgation, this Saturday, April 15, of the pension reform unleashes a chorus of political reactions. In question: the nocturnal reception of an email from the Official Journal promulgating the law which has been contested for several months by the oppositions and the unions. At 3:28 a.m., France discovers the promulgation of the amending social security financing law for 2023, therefore containing the pension reform, but dated April 14.
“The Social Security Code is thus amended. (…) In the first paragraph, the word: sixty-two is replaced by the word: sixty-four”, can we read there. In reality, the Official Journal always sends these emails, which contain both appointments and ministerial decrees, from Tuesday to Sunday in the middle of the night. The latter is no exception. “The use, the political and legal obligations led to a morning publication of the JORF (on average between 2 and 7 hours)”, recalls, moreover, the site of the Directorate of legal and administrative information.
Basically, the nocturnal dispatch is not really what the oppositions regret. The inter-union had asked, Friday, the President of the Republic not to promulgate the law following the decision of the Constitutional Council judging in conformity with the Constitution the essence of the reform. But Emmanuel Macron decided to enact the law quickly. As a reminder, he had two weeks, after this validation, to sign this reform and thus confirm its enforceability.
“What difference did it make to wait three days, four days or five days, while the text is validated? (…) The law is voted, validated and therefore it must be published as it is”, argued Olivier Dussopt the Minister of Labor on France Culture. “We made the choice to promulgate immediately after the decision, as is the case for all state finance or social security laws. They are always promulgated within 24 hours of the opinion of the Constitutional Council,” he added. “It’s not over,” promises the inter-union, however, which remains convinced that not enacting the law was the “only way to calm anger.”
“There is neither winner nor loser”, assured the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, noting “the end of the institutional and democratic progress” of the text. The text is promulgated, and the Constitutional Council rejected the left’s first request for a shared initiative referendum (RIP). He will decide, with little hope for the opposition, on a second request on May 3. Emmanuel Macron, who hopes to continue his reforms, must address the Nation on Monday. The CGT calls for mobilizations on April 20 and 28.
