Pension reform, 49.3... CEE's members contribute to the debate

The bill on pension reform has reached the end of an eventful legislative process. Between a blocked vote, the use of article 49.3 of the French Constitution, motions of censure, and a citizen and union mobilisation that remains strong even after the vote, this future reform continues to fuel the French public and media debate.

The members of the CEE, through their various expertises, provide a scientific perspective on this current situation, through the study of the recent past and of other European countries.

Isabelle Guinaudeau, CNRS research fellow, has established with Michael Becher and Sylvain Brouard the high political and electoral cost of the use of the "49.3" by studying the period 1979-2008, in West European Politics .

Prime ministers and the electoral cost of using the confidence vote in legislative bargaining: evidence from France 

In our @WEPsocial paper, Michael Becher, Sylvain Brouard and I have shown that there is a substantial political/electoral cost for using the 49.3 procedure. Executive approval declines after confidence votes: https://t.co/bLat7Ko4CV pic.twitter.com/mO7UCWzkD5

— Isabelle Guinaudeau (@iguinaudeau) March 18, 2023

• Before the use of the '49.3' article for the adoption of this law, Olivier Rozenberg , Associate Professor at Sciences Po, CEE, questioned in an article published by Le Monde the decision-making capacity of the assemblies and the fragility of French parliamentarism.

« L’examen par les députés de la réforme des retraites met à vif les fragilités inhérentes au parlementarisme »

• The note published in La Grande Conversation by Bruno Palier , CNRS Research Director at the CEE, and Paulus Wagner , PhD student at the CEE, shows that the “Rassemblement National” and Marine Le Pen could come out on top in this political episode. According to the two researchers, the government's forced passage and the unpopularity of this reform among certain social classes, those who suffer the most degraded working conditions, can only strengthen the position of the far-right party.

Les lendemains politiques d’une réforme contestée

• The book Réformer les retraites by Bruno Palier, (Presses de Sciences Po, June 2021) provides an insight into the content and scope of the major pension reforms in France since 1993, based on the German, British, Italian, Dutch and Swedish examples.

La longue histoire des retraites (et de leurs réformes) en Europe (Read this interview in CNRS le Journal)

   Les femmes et l'Etat providence français (podcast Genre, etc.)