On Wednesday evening, March 8, the French Senate approved a key article in a draft to amend the pension system, which provides for raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 years, as 201 members voted in favor of raising the retirement age, compared to 115 members who voted against it.
Immediately after the vote, Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne expressed her “delight” at the approval of the amendment, confirming in a tweet on Twitter that this reform is “balanced and fair”, noting that the session witnessed a sharp bickering between the left-wing opposition and the ruling right.
“Your name will forever be associated with a reform that will take us back nearly 40 years,” Socialist Senator Monique Le Pen told Labor Minister Olivier Dussault.
The approval of this article comes in the wake of mass demonstrations that took place in France, in which 1.28 million people participated, according to the Ministry of the Interior, and 3.5 million, according to the General Labor Union, to protest the reform of the retirement system in France.
The retirement age in France is among the lowest among all European countries. The draft law provides for gradually raising the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years, by 3 months annually, as of September 1, 2023, until 2030.
It also provides for an increase in the required social security contributions period from 42 years to 43 years so that the retiree can receive his full retirement pension, without any deductions.
The government is counting on this reform to ensure the financing of the social security system, which is one of the pillars of the French social model, and it is expected that the French Parliament will approve it in both houses by March 16.
(Image: Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne)
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