France approves pension reform despite mass protests

The government of the French president, Emmanuel Macronapproved its pension reform on Monday, against which more than a million people demonstrated on Thursday, which is now beginning its parliamentary process while the protests continue.

Despite the majority rejection of public opinion, the government reiterated its commitment to delay the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 and bring forward to 2027 the increase in the years of contribution necessary to collect a full pension (from 42 to 43). .

The age measures that we adopt are those that will allow us to balance the system [de pensiones] in 2030″, the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, defended at a press conference, who acknowledged a “disagreement” on these points with the unions.

The plenary session of the National Assembly (lower house) will begin debating the bill from February 6, before it reaches the Senate (upper house). The left-wing parties and the far-right opposition have already announced that they will vote against it.

To approve it, the ruling party, which lost its absolute majority in June, could count on the support of Los Republicanos (LR, right), in favor of a reform, or resort to two controversial mechanisms to try to adopt it without putting it to a vote.

“I want the government with the legislators (…) to be able to work on the text and adjust it,” said the liberal president on Sunday, who nevertheless called for “advancing” since there have already been changes since the delay at 65 years of age that he proposed in election campaign.

This reform is one of the key measures that Macron, 45, promised during the campaign that led to his re-election in April, after the covid-19 pandemic forced him to bury a first attempt.

The eight main unions are opposed and called a new day of protests on January 31 after the success of last Thursday. “We hope to do better,” CGT leader Philippe Martinez told RTL, LCI and Le Figaro media on Sunday.

The retirement age in the second largest economy in the European Union (EU) is one of the lowest in Europe and, if the reform goes ahead, France would be close to 65 years of Spain or 67 of Denmark.