French political news: pensions, Mediapart-RN controversy and budgetary projects

Is the cancellation of the municipal elections in Vaulx-en-Velin and Vénissieux, two towns won by LFI last March, likely to invalidate the election of Gabriel Amard, the first rebellious senator propelled to the upper house of Parliament?

Bastions of the left in the Lyon metropolis, Vaulx-en-Velin and Vénissieux respectively switched from the PS and the PC to France Insoumise during the last municipal elections. Two municipalities of 53,000 and 65,500 inhabitants which constitute a very large part of the rebellious voters who voted in the senatorial elections on Sunday.

The president of the National Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet “never believed” in the theory of an RN “shield of the Jewish community” and estimated on Wednesday that millions of French people had been “fooled” by the party’s de-demonization strategy.

“I’m waiting for Mediapart to be able to show us the evidence it has. Jordan Bardella will defend himself, it is his right, but the Republic has the right to know who is hiding behind its political leaders. We cannot tolerate personalities who are responsible and anti-Semitic,” reacted Ms. Braun-Pivet on Franceinfo, questioned about the anti-Semitic remarks attributed to the president of the RN by Mediapart.

“Already, the history of the National Rally, we clearly see... by whom it was founded and what the connections of this party were for years with the entire anti-Semitic and conspiratorial sphere. Afterwards, we clearly see that with each election, they are obliged to clean up,” she noted.

“We cannot imagine that everything is as clear as that if, in each election, they attract candidates who make anti-Semitic remarks, who show off with SS caps,” she judged.

Ms. Braun-Pivet said she wanted to “think of the voters of the National Rally”, “the millions of French people who sincerely believed that there had been a demonization and that the National Rally was not the National Front and that they had gotten rid of this anti-Semitic hatred”. “It would be a shock for them to learn that they have been mystified for years and that they have been fooled,” she said.

The reform proposed by Édouard Philippe is the most demanding of all those proposed by the candidates in the presidential election. More responsible than Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen who promise a costly step backwards (60 years for the Insoumis, 62 for the nationalist), more frank than Gabriel Attal, who prudently skirts the question of legal age, clearer than Bruno Retailleau, who distinguishes a minimum starting age (63 years) and a full-rate departure age (65 years), the Horizons candidate shows himself to be the best and most complete in assuming two high cursors – 65 years for the legal age and forty-five years of contributions – and showing itself to be precise and realistic on the establishment of a capitalization level.

Asking to work more is necessary. But inevitably unpopular. So risky for a contender for the Élysée. Philippe knows this by claiming the role of the one who – implied, unlike the others – refuses demagoguery and prefers to tell the truth rather than leaving future generations to bear an effort that each year lost will make more difficult. In a pre-campaign where he is struggling to establish himself as a “useful vote”, the mayor of Le Havre has no other choice anyway. By renouncing the courage of this reform, he would not have seduced those who attached to him the label of a father of rigor. And he would have discouraged those who believe he is best placed to restore public finances.

Gabriel Attal criticized on Wednesday the pension reform proposed by his competitor Édouard Philippe, believing that it is “the Macron proposal of 2022” and “that we are no longer taking palliative care measures”.

Édouard Philippe's proposal, to gradually reach a legal starting age of 65 with 45 years of contributions, "this is exactly the proposal that Emmanuel Macron made in 2022 in his presidential campaign", judged the Renaissance presidential candidate on Europe 1/CNews.

Its rival Horizons announced on Tuesday that it wanted to “resume the 2023 reform which placed the legal starting age at 64 years instead of 62 years and nine months today and which placed the contribution period at 43 years instead of 42.5”. “Then, we will continue so that in less than 10 years, we are at 65, for the legal age, and 45 years,” he said.

But for Gabriel Attal, “we are no longer moving the parameters or cursors, we are no longer taking palliative care measures to allow a system to survive when this system objectively no longer holds up.” “What I am proposing is that we change the retirement system. [...] I do not believe that the legal age of departure still allows us to control our system. I suggest that we take the contribution period. You have a real discount if you leave early, a real premium if you leave late,” he said. “It’s a real difference that we have with Édouard Philippe.”

The activity bonus will not be indexed to inflation in the draft budget presented on Thursday, Labor Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou said on France 2 on Wednesday, adding that priority would be given “to the most deprived”. The activity bonus, paid to around 4.5 million people, will not be indexed to inflation “in the initial copy” of the draft budget, said the minister.

“Why are we doing this? This is not lightheartedness, I remind you that the challenge is to restore the accounts of this country, whose deficits are slipping, whose debt is soaring. So you need a form of courage,” he explained. “We know that in Parliament, there will be debates and amendments,” he added, stressing that the initial copy could be amended.

You may be wondering at what age you can retire. The answer will be given to you in 2027, after the presidential election. On the left and the far right, the return to a starting age of 62, or even 60, is still brandished like a totem. On the right, the candidates are taking the risk of unpopularity, by almost all proposing to shift the legal age, stuck at 62 years and 9 months since the suspension of the Borne reform of 2023. After Bruno Retailleau last week, Édouard Philippe came out of the woods this Tuesday, unveiling his reform project on YouTube.

For Édouard Philippe, we will have to “progressively work longer”, as is already the case in many European countries. In less than ten years, the Horizons candidate wants to increase the legal retirement age until it reaches 65, while increasing the contribution period to 45 years (compared to 42.5 years today).

While the inflation of everyday products continues to squeeze household budgets, the Minister of Purchasing Power, Trade and SMEs, Serge Papin, justified the merits of the debate on a measure which risks increasing the cost of the Shopping Cart: the tax on sweet products, which the government could present to the Council of Ministers on Thursday. “There is a problem in this country with obesity, diabetes, and therefore excessive sugar consumption,” recalled the former boss of Système U on the LCI set this Wednesday morning.

Serge Papin, however, assures that he is not “for taxes”, any more than he is “for the increase” in the price of food products. But “there is debate,” assures the minister, particularly for young people, who are primarily affected by overconsumption of sugar. “A 9-year-old child today has eaten as much sugar as his grandfather during his entire life,” argues the minister. At the same time, he admits that “defining what a sweet product is” will be a matter for public debate.

Concretely, the sugar tax, which could bring the State nearly 200 million euros in revenue in 2027 if it is adopted in the final version of the budget, would specifically target processed foods containing the most sugar: cake, spreads, or even carrot puree. The latter could therefore cost more on the shelves – a way of dissuading their excessive consumption and thus improving public health. The principle would be the same as the soda tax which has, for the moment, not “radically modified” consumer behavior, according to Mathieu Plane of the French Observatory of Economic Conditions (OFCE).

Fabrice Arfi, co-head of the Mediapart investigations department, promises Wednesday September 30 on Franceinfo that “the rest of the revelations are coming”. “There will be a demonstration of what we have written,” he assures. The journalist specifies that this investigation is the result of several months of work since the spring, using “documentary sources” and “different human sources”. “We are not going to put the reputation of the newspaper at stake on such sensitive information if we are not 200% sure,” he continues.

The investigation is based in particular on emails, “private conversations on platforms like Facebook and Messenger”, explains Fabrice Arfi. According to Mediapart, Jordan Bardella is notably the author of several sentences such as "The banks are all owned by Jews", "The Jew must dominate (sic) other peoples, crush them and steal from them".

Jordan Bardella, the president of the RN party, announced on Tuesday the filing of several complaints against the investigative newspaper, one for defamation and the other for forgery and use of forgery, “if there are written elements” published by Mediapart. But Fabrice Arfi specifies “not being aware of it” for the moment.

Uniting behind Jordan Bardella, Marine Le Pen advised Mediapart on Tuesday “to put on your Kevlar suit because there will obviously be a response to the way they behave”. Kevlar is the fiber that makes up bulletproof vests. The use of this vocabulary reflects a desire to “play the little soldier,” believes Fabrice Arfi.

“When the bad example comes from so high up, it can always give bad ideas to people who can grow up in a political environment where violence exists,” he laments. “There is a part of me which, along with the editorial staff, is stunned to see that someone who wants to preside over the destiny of the nation addresses journalists in this way,” reacts Fabrice Arfi. And to specify that he does not plan, for his part, to take legal action against these threats.

Invited this Wednesday morning on the set of La Grande Interview Europe 1-CNews, former prime minister and Renaissance candidate in the presidential election Gabriel Attal judges that “Insoumise France is using our youth as political cannon fodder”.

“The Insoumis encourage young people to put themselves in danger, to endanger the integrity of their teachers, police officers and their buildings. (...) Insoumise France, by doing this, is doing a disservice to young people, since it conveys the image that all young people would indeed be given over to violence. However, this is not the case,” he insists to Laurence Ferrari.

Guest of France Inter this Wednesday morning, Sébastien Chenu blamed Mediapart, almost 48 hours after the publication by the media of anti-Semitic remarks attributed to Jordan Bardella.

“In this somewhat clumsy manipulation of Mediapart there is obviously a pitfall for Mediapart: either Mediapart manipulates public opinion, […] or does it itself get smoked by people who obviously want to harm us,” declared the vice-president of the RN. “In both cases, this disruption of the electoral campaign will have legal consequences,” he continued, estimating that Mediapart does not have “the legitimacy to distribute the good points and the bad points on anti-Semitism”.

“That Mediapart is an opposition media to the National Rally, it is a fact. I’m not making it up, it’s part of their editorial line,” said the MP from the North. According to him, “many people want harm to the National Rally and to the candidacy of Marine Le Pen and that of Jordan Bardella.” “They can come from the extreme right, the extreme left, the powers in place: many people do not want to see us arrive,” he added.

Inheritance, taxation, retirement, savings and public debt, life insurance... Seven candidates for the presidential election - David Lisnard, Gabriel Attal, Bruno Retailleau, Xavier Bertrand, Jérôme Guedj, Édouard Philippe and Jean-Philippe Tanguy, representing Marine Le Pen following an incapacity - spoke this Tuesday on these themes during a "grand oral" organized by Afer, the first association of savers in France with 750,000 members.

Among these subjects, only one truly achieved consensus: life insurance, considered the preferred investment of the French. One after the other, the candidates in the presidential election (or in the left-wing primary for Jérôme Guedj) have pledged not to touch the taxation of life insurance and its specificities, if they were elected. In the event of death, the beneficiaries of the contracts are currently only taxed above 152,500 euros. In addition, contract holders benefit from a reduction of 4,600 euros per person (9,200 euros for a couple) for withdrawals made after eight years.

“Progressive extension” to 65 years and 45 years of contributions: expected at the turning point for years, Édouard Philippe unveiled his pension reform on Tuesday, an important step in his presidential campaign, expected in a feverish outgoing camp facing the RN and LFI.

It was two days before the presentation of the budgets by the government, against the backdrop of a day of strike in the civil service, a movement in high schools and in the midst of the controversy surrounding Jordan Bardella that the Horizons candidate presented the content of his reform, in a video of around twenty minutes published on his social networks.