French PM backs suspending pensions reform until 2027 presidential vote

Issued on: 14/10/2025 – 21:04

3 min Reading time

After parliament toppled his two predecessors over cost-cutting measures, Lecornu, French president’s seventh premier since 2017, is battling to keep his cabinet alive long enough to pass a much-needed austerity budget by the end of the year.

The Socialists, a swing group in parliament, had threatened to vote to topple the government if he did not immediately suspend the pensions reform that raised the retirement age from 62 to 64.

In a policy speech to lawmakers, Lecornu supported suspending the 2023 pensions reform until the next presidential election.

“There will be no increase in the retirement age from now until January 2028,” he pledged.

The reform, which the government forced through parliament without a vote in 2023, sparked months of protests.

Lecornu also promised parliament that he would not use the controversial article 49.3 tool to bypass a vote in the lower house on any draft laws, and put all proposed bills to debate.

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In a bid to gain opposition backing, Lecornu earlier this month promised not to force legislation through, and allow all bills to be debated in the lower house.

“The government will make suggestions, we will debate, and you will vote,” Lecornu said.

France’s public deficit

Lecornu, who became prime minister last month, resigned on Monday last week after criticism of his newly appointed government.

He was re-appointed on Friday and proposed a new team of ministers on Sunday – just in time for the government to approve and file a draft budget with parliament.

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In the draft approved by his government Tuesday, France’s public deficit was cut to 4.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), Lecornu said, warning it must remain below five percent after parliamentary debate on the budget.

France’s debt-to-GDP ratio is the European Union’s third-highest after Greece and Italy, and is close to twice the 60-percent limit fixed by EU rules.

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Freezing the pensions reform would cost some 400 million euros in 2026 and 1.8 billion euros the year after, Lecornu said, adding the suspension must be offset by savings, not by increasing the deficit.

The former defence minister told lawmakers the move was not about “suspending for the sake of suspending,” but an opportunity to chart a new course for the country’s pension system.

Under pressure

Lecornu is under severe pressure from opponents.

The hard-left France Unbowed party and far-right National Rally have already filed motions to topple Lecornu’s new cabinet, although they stand little chance of succeeding without the backing of the Socialists.

The Socialists did not immediately respond to Lecornu’s promise on the pension bill.

After the speech, the Green party said it would vote to oust Lecornu’s government even after the suspension, while the centre-right Horizons party called the reform a “dangerous shortcut”.

Earlier on Tuesday, Macron had warned that any vote to topple Lecornu’s cabinet would force him to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.

Macron has also faced unprecedented criticism.

Some opposition leaders are urging him to call snap elections or resign, and even key allies such as former prime minister Edouard Philippe have distanced themselves from the 47-year-old president.

The far-right senses its strongest chance yet to seize power in the 2027 presidential elections, when Macron’s second and last term runs out.

National Rally (RN) leader Jordan Bardella mocked the new government as “Emmanuel Macron’s saviour club,” saying its members shared only a “fear of the ballot box”.

(with AFP)