March 2023
29Mar

French unions vow further protests on 10th general strike against Macron’s pension plans

French unions vowed to continue demonstrations next week amid another day of protests Tuesday against French President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reforms — the 10th general strike this year. Clashes broke out between small groups of protesters and police, especially in Paris, where some people also ransacked a supermarket. But the number of protesters also decreased almost everywhere in the country compared to last week, according to estimates by both French authorities and unions. Around 730,000 people protested in total,...

March 29, 2023
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24Mar

French visit by Britain’s King Charles postponed due to pension protests

A visit to France by King Charles III, due to start on Sunday, has been postponed at the request of President Emmanuel Macron because of ongoing protests over pension reform. There has been widespread violence and unions have called a national day of protest on Tuesday. The French presidency said the postponement was decided after a call between Macron and the king on Friday morning. "Given the announcement yesterday of another national day of protests against pension reform on Tuesday March...

March 24, 2023
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23Mar

France. Emmanuel Macron holds firm on pensions reform amid protests

Emmanuel Macron, France president, defended his unpopular plan to raise the retirement age on Wednesday as being key to repairing the public finances but acknowledged public anger over his government’s decision to pass the law without a parliamentary vote. “Do you think I enjoy doing this reform? No,” said Macron in a televised interview. “But there are not a hundred ways to balance the accounts . . . this reform is not a luxury or a pleasure, it’s a necessity for the country.” Read also...

March 23, 2023
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21Mar

France’s government survives no-confidence votes as pension reforms move ahead

Parliament adopted a divisive pension bill Monday raising the retirement age in France from 62 to 64, after lawmakers in the lower chamber rejected two no-confidence votes against the government. But the bill pushed through by President Emmanuel Macron without lawmakers' approval still faces a review by the Constitutional Council before it can be signed into law. The council has the power to reject articles within bills but usually approves them. The first no-confidence motion, proposed by a small centrist group...

March 21, 2023
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17Mar

Macron puts his government at risk with decision to raise the retirement age in France

French President Emmanuel Macron imposed a highly unpopular bill raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 on Thursday by shunning parliament and invoking a special constitutional power. Lawmakers were shouting, their voices shaking with emotion as Macron made the risky move, which is expected to trigger quick motions of no-confidence in his government. Riot police vans zoomed by outside the National Assembly, their sirens wailing. The proposed pension changes have prompted major strikes and protests across the country since January....

March 17, 2023
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10Mar

French Senate votes to raise retirement age from 62 to 64 amid nationwide strikes

France's Senate voted Thursday to raise the retirement age by two years to 64, as the government moves to overhaul the country's pensions system in the face of strong opposition from labour unions. The conservative-dominated legislative body voted in favour of a decisive article to raise the age of retirement by 201 votes to 115. Debate will resume later on Thursday over a controversial amendment to the bill. The Senate majority is rushing to meet a deadline of midnight Sunday to finalise...

March 10, 2023
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08Mar

More than 1.2 million march in France over plan to raise pension age to 64

More than 1.2 million protesters marched in France on Tuesday as rail workers and refinery staff began rolling strikes and trade unions stepped up their campaign to try to stop Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the pension age to 64. For the sixth time since the start of the year, trade unions called a nationwide day of strikes and demonstrations. Many protest rallies attracted bigger crowds than previous ones organised since mid-January, including in Marseille, one of France’s biggest cities,...

March 8, 2023
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06Mar

French Strikes Over Pension Reform Plans Expected to Disrupt Public Transport

Industrial action in France over the government's planned pensions overhaul will cause heavy disruption to public transport again on Tuesday, the transport minister and several public transport authorities said Sunday. For the sixth time since the start of the year, unions are calling for a nationwide day of strikes and demonstrations, aiming to repeat the large turnout seen on the first major protest Jan. 19 when more than a million people marched against the pension reform. "There will be very strong...

March 6, 2023
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03Mar

France’s controversial pension reform bill arrives in Senate

Debate over French President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reform legislation starts Thursday in the Senate, where the right – which controls the chamber – is expected to treat the text more favourably than opposition parties did in the National Assembly a fortnight ago. The government is banking on support from Senators belonging to the conservative Les Republicains (LR) party, who favour raising the minimum legal retirement age from 62 to 64, and having citizens work longer to obtain a full...

March 3, 2023
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February 2023
22Feb

France. ‘We need to work longer’: France’s Macron defends pensions reform

A majority of the French population, according to polls, and left-wing groups in parliament are strongly opposed to the plan, which includes raising the age of retirement from 62 to 64. But Macron, who put the overhaul at the centre of his re-election campaign last year, had until now largely avoided face-to-face meetings on the plan with members of the public and let his government handle the criticism. On Tuesday, he told journalists the later age was necessary as life expectancy...

February 22, 2023
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