France: Senate approves Macron’s pension reform plan despite massive protests

The French Senate late Saturday (March 11) approved President Emmanuel Macron's pension reform plan despite massive protests opposing the policy. In the upper house of Parliament, 195 members voted for the text while 112 voted against it. Taking to Twitter, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said, "After hundreds of hours of discussions, the Senate adopted the pension reform plan. It is a key step to make reform happen that will guarantee the future of our pension system."

Borne said that she was committed to ensuring the text would be definitively adopted in the coming days.

With the Senate adopting the bill, it will be reviewed by a joint committee of lower and upper house lawmakers, probably on Wednesday, according to a report by the news agency Reuters. If the committee agrees on the text, a final vote in both chambers is likely to take place the next day. However, the outcome of the vote seems uncertain in the lower chamber where President Macron's party needs allies' votes for a majority.

If the government fears it would not have enough votes in the lower house, it is still possible for it to push the text through without a parliamentary vote, via a so-called 49:3 procedure.

Protests intensify

On Saturday, around 368,000 protesters marched in various cities of France to oppose the pension reform. As with the previous demonstrations, Saturday's protest did not see any major scuffles with the police. According to government figures, 1.28 million took to the streets on Tuesday (March 7),the highest turnout since the beginning of the protests.

More nationwide strikes and protests have been planned for Wednesday (March 15).

The pension reform plan's headline measure is the hike in the minimum age retirement to 64 from 62, seen by many as unfair to people who started working young. The reform would also increase the number of years people have to make contributions to receive a full pension.

Speaking to the news agency AFP on Saturday, retired train driver Claude Jeanvoine said that he was protesting for "my colleagues and for our young people."

"People shouldn't let the government get away with this, this is about the future of their children and grandchildren," Jeanvoine, 63, demonstrating in Strasbourg said.

The protesters also pointed out that women, especially mothers, were at a disadvantage under the new reform.

"If I'd known this was coming, I wouldn't have stopped working to look after my kids when they were small," said Sophie Merle, a 50-year-old childcare provider in the southern city of Marseille.

(With inputs from agencies)

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