Despite growing criticism against a bill that would raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, the government is holding its ground as the country prepares for a hectic week ahead of the strike on Tuesday.
A day before the French National Assembly examines the new contested pension bill, it appears that the postponement of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years, widely criticised by the unions and most of the opposition, is to be adopted, according to French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
“The retirement age at 64 is no longer negotiable,” she said on Sunday in an interview with France Inter. “This is the compromise we have proposed after having heard the employers’ and trade unions’ organisations and after having exchanged views with the various parliamentary groups,” she added.
Far-right opposition Rassemblement National MP Julien Odoul sternly condemned the Borne’s attitude on France Inter station, arguing that the “dignity of the French people is always negotiable.”
“It is not for the prime minister to decide on the parliamentary debate. It is not up to her to decide what measures will be adopted by the deputies, what will be negotiable or not,” Odoul said.
Even within the ranks of the centre-right Republican party, usually an ally of the government in Parliament, Borne’s declarations raised eyebrows. The party’s executive Vice-President Aurélien Pradié criticised the prime minister in an interview on France 3 Borne.
“I must say that this morning’s bravado is starting to make me think that, deep down, the Macronists will never change,” he said. Even though his party is in favour of reform, the support of all its MPs is not ensured, which worries former Republican Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire.
“When you belong to a majority, you support the proposals that were part of the presidential project,” Le Maire said, adding that he hoped that the Republicans will support this reform “until the end.”
On Monday, French MPs will start reviewing the bill and the thousands of amendments tabled by opposition parties who hope to gain time and hinder its adoption.
On the left side of the aisle, the NUPES opposition group alone submitted 6938 amendments to the bill, in a bid to “force the government to explain its law,” according to leftist La France Insoumise (LFI) MP Hadrien Clouet.
“Last time, we made the choice to slow down the debates to give people time to mobilise. This time, we want to force the government to explain each article of its bill,” he said, referring to a previous reform of the pension system in 2020 where his party submitted 40,000 amendments.
In France, according to a poll conducted by Ifop for the JDD, over two-thirds of the French (68%) are against the bill.
(Charles Szumski | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
