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France\u2019s Socialist party has threatened to launch a no-confidence vote that could topple the country\u2019s fragile government after months of negotiations over a controversial pensions reform ended without a deal.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Fran\u00e7ois Bayrou had initiated a \u201cconclave\u201d on President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s cornerstone reform \u2014 which raised the retirement age from 62 to 64 \u2014 in a bid to maintain enough support for his governing coalition to survive in a deeply divided parliament. <\/p>\n
But the government\u2019s survival depends on the tacit support of the centre-left Socialists, who oppose raising the retirement age<\/a> but have so far abstained from calling a no-confidence vote. <\/p>\n \u201cIf parliament is not consulted, if we do not have the possibility of submitting amendments that would allow us to define the conditions for a return to balance in exchange for a return to 62 years, we will indeed be heading towards censure,\u201d party leader Olivier Faure told BFMTV on Tuesday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n Bayrou<\/a> is meeting negotiators from moderate trade unions and business lobbies on Tuesday to try to arrive at an agreement. \u201cA historical agreement was close,\u201d Bayrou said on Tuesday. \u201cI can\u2019t accept failure so close to the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Macron pushed through pension reform in the face of intense public opposition on the grounds that leaving the system unchanged would lead to unsustainable financial deficits, and defenders of the change note that even at 64 France<\/a> has one of Europe\u2019s lowest official retirement ages.<\/p>\n The National Assembly has been divided into three roughly equal blocks since Macron called snap legislative elections last summer in a failed attempt to check the rise of the far-right Rassemblement National party. His own centrist party ended up losing seats, resulting in a fractured lower house with no clear majority.\u00a0<\/p>\n A first post-election government formed by former EU Brexit negotiator and centre-right politician Michel Barnier in mid-2024 collapsed following a historic no-confidence vote in December, forcing him to resign. <\/p>\n Bayrou, Macron\u2019s centrist ally, was nominated by the president to form the next government. He was able to do so by offering concessions to lawmakers, including a pledge to revisit the contentious retirement reform based on the outcome of negotiations between business and labour lobbies, which have now concluded with no agreement.<\/p>\n