French President, Emmanuel Macron, is set to charge ahead with controversial and unpopular plans to raise the retirement age on Tuesday, when his government unveils plans to reform the country’s costly pension system.
French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, will present the plans to raise the retirement age to 64 or 65 from 62 at present in the face of polls showing about 70 per cent of French people against the measures, and threats by trade unions to unleash a flood of crippling strikes.
Politicians and unions have warned that if mass demonstrations against the measures escalate, France could face a bigger crisis than the unruly “gilets jaunes” (yellow vest) street protests that erupted four years ago.
The pension reform is set to be the single biggest legislative act of Mr Macron’s two terms in office and its fate could determine his authority in the Elysée.
Pensions are considered a third rail in French politics, with previous presidents trying and failing to reform the system that is draining the government coffers.
This is Mr Macron’s second attempt at getting pensions reform through parliament – his previous bid, at the end of 2019, was abandoned in March 2020 in the wake of union protests and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Macron already pledged in his New Year’s Eve address that he would push ahead with the plans, saying: “This year will be the year of reform to the pension system which aims to balance our system for the years and decades to come. “We need to work more.”
His plans come at a time when the cost of living and energy crises are already eating into household budgets.
Mr Macron’s government has met with key union groups in an attempt to mollify them and offer concessions but to little avail.
After meeting Ms Borne last week, Laurent Berger, the general secretary of the country’s biggest union, the CFDT, pledged that he would not hesitate to call on his members to respond if reform is seen as unfair for workers.
“I say it here and I said it to the prime minister: if the legal retirement age is raised to 64 or 65, the CFDT will mobilise to challenge this reform,” he said.
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“There is a lot of social tension, a lot of social problems, anxieties, conflicts and negative feelings in France at the moment.”
The threat of paralysing strikes and violent street protests would test Mr Macron’s nerve as he attempts to shore up public support for France’s stance over the Ukraine war.
Although Mr Macron’s centrist Ensemble (Together) coalition government does not command an absolute majority in the National Assembly, it is expected to secure the backing of the centre-right Républicains (Republicans) to pass the reforms.
The main opposition, the leftwing and green alliance NUPES, is planning to meet on Tuesday night to discuss its strategy, but its key figures, like the firebrand de facto leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, have said he will do whatever he can to disrupt the reforms.
