On Thursday, January 19, mass protests began in France against President Emmanuel Macron’s plans to increase the retirement age, the BBC reports.
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President Macron’s reform program has caused discontent in France. of France associations are protesting against the plan increasing the retirement age from 62 years to 64.
Intercity and intercity train services are expected to be disrupted. Schools and other public institutions will be closed indefinitely. Paris airport “Orly” also canceled one out of five flights. The Paris metro will also not work at full capacity.
Large demonstrations of several tens of thousands of residents are expected in Paris and other cities, where the police will also intervene to ensure peaceful protests.
The French government has emphasized the need for a pension reform program to protect the public pension system. However, 68% of the country’s citizens do not support the creation of the reform, according to the results of the “IFOP” survey.
All national unions, including the reformist union, whose support the government was counting on, condemned the plan to raise the retirement age. Opposition parties have also expressed dissatisfaction with this plan.
“On Thursday, the walls of the Elysée Palace must rattle,” Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel said on Tuesday.
It is impossible to predict whether the influence of the movement will be enough to force the president to back down from his position. If so, it could mark the end of any serious reforms in Macron’s second term, political analysts say.
The opposition disputes the need for reform, arguing that there is currently no deficit in the system, so there is no urgency to act. They argue that there are cost-saving alternatives to incentivizing people to work longer, such as cutting pensions.
The government says the system is headed for disaster as the working-age to retirement-age population falls sharply. 50 years ago it was four workers per pensioner, but now the number has shrunk to 1.7 workers per pensioner. The number is expected to decrease further in the coming years.
Almost all European countries have increased the official retirement age. For example, in Italy and Germany you can retire at 67, but in Spain it is 65. In Great Britain it is currently 66 years.
