Pension reform in France: tension between citizens and police is growing

Pension reform in France
Tension between citizens and police is growing

Before the Paris parliament votes on two motions of no confidence in the Macron government on Monday, the French will once again take their anger about the pension reform onto the streets. For the first time, a refinery is shut down completely.

Critics of the controversial pension reform in France have once again vented their anger with new demonstrations and the increased blockade of refineries. Fearing that the protests would become more radical, the Paris Prefecture banned all demonstrations on and around the Place de la Concorde and the Boulevard Champs Elysées. As justification, she referred to “serious risks of disrupting public order and security”.

The CGT union announced that the country’s largest refinery in Normandy was slowly being shut down. This crossed a threshold: since the protests against pension reforms began, fuel suppliers had been blocked, but none of the seven refineries had been brought to a complete standstill. The technically complex step takes several days and should not initially lead to fuel shortages. CGT threatened to shut down two more refineries in southeastern Lavéra and Gonfreville-l’Orcher in the northwest by Monday at the latest.

Several unions had called for demonstrations over the weekend – also out of anger at the actions of President Emmanuel Macron’s government, which wants to push through the reform without a vote in the National Assembly. Demonstrations were planned in Paris, the port city of Marseille, Toulon and Montpellier, among others. Thousands of people took to the streets in Nantes and Brest in the west, where the atmosphere between demonstrators and security forces was tense.

atmosphere heated

On Friday evening, for the second night in a row, thousands of people gathered on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, just a few hundred meters from the National Assembly and the President’s Elysée Palace. The atmosphere was increasingly heated after being mostly peaceful during the day. Several hundred mostly younger demonstrators threw bottles and firecrackers at police officers. The police used tear gas to clear the square. According to the police headquarters, 61 people were arrested.

Demonstrations also took place in Lyon, Strasbourg and Lille on Friday. In Lyon, demonstrators broke into a town hall and “tried to set fire”. The fire was quickly extinguished and 36 people were arrested, the prefecture said. Other demonstrations, such as in Lille in northern France, were peaceful.

Adoption by constitutional article

The government on Thursday invoked a constitutional article that would allow the pension reform to pass without a vote in the National Assembly if the government survives subsequent no-confidence motions. Since then, the opposition has submitted two motions of no confidence, which, according to information from parliamentary circles, the National Assembly will discuss on Monday from 4 p.m. If an absolute majority of MPs vote in favour, the pension reform will be defeated and the government will have to resign. Then President Emmanuel Macron could appoint a new prime minister or call new elections.

A majority for the no-confidence motion is considered unlikely as conservative Republicans are expected to support the government. If there is no absolute majority for a motion of no confidence, the pension reform will finally be passed.

The pension reform provides for a gradual increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. In addition, the minimum pension is to be raised to EUR 1,200 for a full contribution period and the employment of senior citizens is to be promoted. According to polls, around two-thirds of French people reject the reform.

source site-34