It is not clear that Macron appreciates the urgency. The government’s labor code reform, for instance, was adopted by the National Assembly on July 13 and awaits a vote in the Senate. Its primary purpose is to change the rigid rules around collective bargaining, bringing in more flexibility.
It should impose a ceiling on redundancy payments and make it easier for multinational companies to terminate employment on economic grounds. Currently, the law requires evidence of poor economic performance, not just from the French branch of a multinational firm but also from its branches in other countries.
But there is a catch. Even if approved by the Senate and signed into law, the new legislation does not actually do any of those things. It merely gives the government the authority to change the relevant areas of the labor code by executive orders, which are to be presented to “social partners” by the end of August. Superficially, the legislation appears to give the executive a strong mandate to proceed with labor market reforms by fiat. However, it also signals that the depth of those reforms is still negotiable. [...]
Such a slow pace is risky. France’s loudest anti-reform trade union, General Confederation of Labour, is already preparing for a day of mobilization on September 12 over the labor market reforms. Given the sluggish schedule, even politicians within Macron’s own party, La République En Marche, are bound to come under pressure to water the reforms down or derail them altogether.
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