Borne opens door to suspending pension reform
Resigned Education Minister Élisabeth Borne expressed openness to suspending the 2023 pension reform she championed, if it ensures national stability. This stance, voiced in a Le Parisien interview, aims to extend a hand to socialists amid the political crisis after Sébastien Lecornu's resignation. Olivier Faure hailed a 'positive awakening'.
At the heart of the political storm triggered by the swift resignation of the Lecornu government on October 6, 2025, after just 14 hours in existence, Élisabeth Borne, MP for Calvados and former Prime Minister, has broken a taboo within the Macron camp. In a Le Parisien interview published on October 7, she urges her side to 'know how to listen and move' amid the crisis, describing the pension issue as 'epidermic' in France. 'If it's the condition for the country's stability until the presidential election, we must examine the modalities and concrete consequences of a suspension,' she states, refusing to treat the reform – which raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 – as a 'totem'.
This opening comes as Sébastien Lecornu, tasked by Emmanuel Macron with consultations until the evening of October 8 to find a budget compromise, had asked the Economy Ministry 15 days ago to evaluate the cost of the Socialist Party's alternative budget, including such a suspension. Socialists, meeting Wednesday morning at Matignon, demand this pause to avoid voting censure. PS leader Olivier Faure hailed on France 2 a 'late but positive awakening,' calling for Assembly debates. Raphaël Glucksmann, after meeting Lecornu, rejoiced that the hypothesis, 'impossible a few days ago,' 'becomes possible today'.
Resigned Ecological Transition Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher echoed this on LCI: 'We are ready to temporize,' but 'it's not a step back.' From the union side, Sophie Binet (CGT) sees it as an 'admission: the pension reform is a failure,' demanding its outright abrogation, while Marylise Léon (CFDT) detects 'a positive signal'.
However, this U-turn sparks resistance on the right. Renaissance MP Sylvain Maillard tweets it signals a 'government led by Olivier Faure,' which he won't support. LR's Agnès Evren blasts on BFMTV a 'signal to the left' and a 'red line' for her camp, worsening tensions between the central bloc and Republicans.