Reuters
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French President Emmanuel Macron’s government will attempt to revive his economic reform Drive and win a significant political victory this week with The launch of pension system’s overhaul in the face of vehement trade union opposition.
Elisabeth Borne will discuss Tuesday the plans of Prime Minister. French Work longer. Most likely, raise your retirement age to 64/65 from 62.
France has one of the youngest retirement ages of all industrialized countries. It also invests more in pensions than other countries at almost 14% of its economic output.
It reform’s passage through parliament will not be easy. Macron The working majority is not available and he will be required to either win the support of several dozen conservative lawmakers, or use his constitutional rights to avoid the assembly. These actions would anger opposition members and further anger the public.
Pension reform France is a country where you can retire at your full potential. pension At 62, it is deeply loved. It is a sensitive topic and more so now with Social discontent Over the rising cost of living, there are increasing costs.
According to the government reform It is important to maintain the pension system’s finances out of the red in the coming years, but a success could also be a political game-changer for Macron After he lost control over parliament last year.
“The aim is to balance the accounts without raising taxes or cutting pensions. Various options are on the table, but all include raising the retirement age,” Olivier Veran, government spokesperson, told journalists.
Macron It was necessary to insert the pension reform In 2020, ice will be on the horizon as The government was quick to stop the Covid epidemic and saved the economy.
He can now count on a tougher opposition from the union than in 2020 with Even the reform-minded CFDT – France’s biggest union – threatening to protest, which it abstained from three years ago despite misgivings about the reform At the moment.
“If the retirement age is pushed back to 65 or 64, the CFDT will do what we’ve said we’ll do, we will resist this reform by calling on workers to mobilise,” Laurent Berger was the head of CFDT last week.
This time, walkouts may gain more momentum with Already, frustrations are running high about the recent loss of purchasing power due to the inflation crisis.
In an effort to maintain social tensions under control, the government spent billions to cushion the impact of record gas and power prices. French Inflation in Europe is much lower than the rest of EU.
Although strike action was limited to a few sectors in the recent past, this does not mean that there hasn’t been any. as Outrageous overflow at airlines and refineries pension reform This could spark wider protests.
Since violent anti-government protests, the yellow vest movement has been largely inactive.Macron Street protests of 2018 and 2019 held a Saturday march through central Paris, but turnout was poor.
According to polls, pension reform It is not popular. However, government officials believe that people are more likely to be resigned than angry. with 2018 Veran, spokesperson for the government, stated.
“We’re not reforming pensions to be popular but to be responsible. We’ll go all the way because it’s the only way our social model can survive,” He concluded.
