Warning for France from Brussels after suspension of major reform. “We need to see concrete proposals”
Valdis Dombrovskis Photo: Katharina Redanz / DPA / Profimedia
The European Commission warned France on Wednesday that the suspension of the pension reform will have “important budgetary implications” and, therefore, it is “important to take measures” for Paris to respect its budgetary “commitments”, reports AFP, quoted by News.ro.
“We are closely following” the budget debate, “especially the implications of the suspension of the pension reform, as it will have important budgetary consequences”, said the European Commissioner for Economy, Valdis Dombrovskis, in an interview with AFP from Washington. He added that “it is important to take measures to comply with the commitments” established regarding the reduction of the public deficit, the largest among the Eurogroup countries.
Currently, the European Commission is waiting for “complete proposals to be able to make a real assessment”, especially in terms of respecting the budgetary trajectory for reducing the deficit to 3% in the medium term. Valdis Dombrovskis was quite optimistic, estimating that “the French budget seems, on the whole, to be fine” for this year, despite its late and chaotic adoption. “We know that the government is working to ensure that it respects the budget trajectory” set for 2026. “But we need to see concrete proposals and know all the budget implications,” he insisted.
The French prime minister is considering freezing the pension reform until 2027, with the aim of reaching a compromise that would ensure the survival of the government and the adoption of a budget by the end of this year, writes the BFM television website.
Macron's new government considers major compromise on retirement age to ensure survival
Sébastien Lecornu discussed with his ministers on Monday and the position favored at this moment by the prime minister is that of the partial suspension of the reform that provides for the increase of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
It is unclear for now whether this major compromise, which represents a major step back for President Emmanuel Macron, will allow the government to survive.
The far-right party National Assembly (RN) and the far-left France Insubordinate (LFI) have already submitted censure motions. The two parties criticized the nomination of a new prime minister and called for the dissolution of parliament and the organization of early legislative elections or even Macron's resignation.
Right-wing parties, allies of Macron's last governments, have stressed that they do not support suspending the reform.
