Advertisement

France's Macron bypasses National Assembly to raise retirement age to 64

Thousands of protesters demonstrate on Place de la Concorde square, facing the French Parliament, on Thursday after French President Emmanuel Macron pushed through a controversial increase in the country's retirement age from 62 to 64 by using a procedure that allowed him to bypass a National Assembly vote. Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA-EFE
1 of 3 | Thousands of protesters demonstrate on Place de la Concorde square, facing the French Parliament, on Thursday after French President Emmanuel Macron pushed through a controversial increase in the country's retirement age from 62 to 64 by using a procedure that allowed him to bypass a National Assembly vote. Photo by Yoan Valat/EPA-EFE

March 16 (UPI) -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday pushed through a controversial increase in the country's retirement age from 62 to 64 by using a procedure that allowed him to bypass a National Assembly vote.

Macron used Article 49.3 of the Constitution. The move opens him up to a possible no-confidence vote by opposition lawmakers, though, that is unlikely to happen. Macron's party and its allies hold a slight majority in the assembly.

Advertisement

Macron's move is likely to further inflame the bill's opponents, who have demonstrated for about two months against the measure, sparking strikes in public transportation and garbage pickup. He defended the move, saying France's pension system was in danger because of a growing number of retirees living longer and outpacing new workers, who fund the system, entering the workforce.

Macron and his Renaissance Party had said that, according to figures from France's Pensions Advisory Council, the projected deficit over the next 10 years would have been $10.73 billion annually through 2032.

Those stark numbers were not enough to convince unions and other opponents, who pushed back against one provision that said workers had to contribute to the pension for 43 years to be fully eligible.

Advertisement

"By resorting to [Article] 49.3, the government demonstrates that it does not have a majority to approve the two-year postponement of the legal retirement age," Laurent Berger, secretary-general of CFDT, France's largest federation of trade unions.

"The political compromise failed. Workers must be listened to when it is their work being acted upon," Berger said.

Latest Headlines