Macron wants to comment on Monday
Pension reform in France passed despite protests
4/15/2023, 6:31 p.m
Against the resistance of the population, the raising of the retirement age in France to 64 years has been decided. But the opponents of the reform do not want to give up. On the contrary – their anger grows. A mass demonstration is planned for May 1st.
France’s government has now officially pushed through its controversial pension reform despite all protests. The law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 has been published in the French Official Gazette. A few hours earlier, the French Constitutional Council had approved the project. The rapid enactment into law triggered even more anger and indignation from the opposition and the unions.
“Like thieves, Emmanuel Macron and his gang enacted their pension law in the middle of the night,” tweeted left-wing MP François Ruffin. France’s right-wing nationalist Marine Le Pen wrote on Twitter that a president of the republic must bring the French people together. But Macron is an “arsonist” who damages democracy. As the French media wrote, citing the presidential palace, Macron wants to speak on television on Monday evening. Unions had repeatedly urged him to exercise wisdom and not enact the law.
Protests broke out in Paris, Nice, Nantes, Rennes and other cities after the decision of the Constitutional Council on Friday. In the capital Paris alone, 112 demonstrators were arrested on Friday evening and 30 garbage cans were set on fire, the television station BFMTV reported, citing the police prefect. Photos showed burning garbage cans, for example in front of Paris City Hall. There were also protests in a number of other cities such as Strasbourg, Lyon and Nantes, and in Rennes the door of a police station was set on fire. There had already been rallies and road blockades during the day on Friday. In the past few months, hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets against the plans. The reform aims to prevent an impending hole in the pension fund.
The retirement age in France is currently 62. In fact, retirement begins later on average today: those who have not paid in long enough to receive a full pension work longer. At the age of 67 there is a pension without a deduction, regardless of how long it has been paid in – the government is keeping that. The law on pension reform is now to take effect from September.
“Tonight there will be no winners and no vanquished”
The unions still want to protest. They have called for new mass demonstrations for May 1st. “The fight goes on and we have to join forces,” said left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon. The Socialists announced a motion to repeal the law. “I appeal to the President: he must hear the overwhelming majority, everywhere in France, opposed to this reform that is dividing the country,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Marine Le Pen, who is on the upswing due to the pension dispute, called for the government and Macron to be punished in the next elections. “The people always have the last word.” She wants to roll back the reform should she come to power.
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, on the other hand, said on Friday evening that the pension reform had now reached the end of the democratic process. “Tonight there are no winners and no vanquished.” The government announced that the pension fund would be balanced in 2030 with the reform. They now want to discuss better working conditions and the way to full employment with the social partners.