Macron bypasses Assembly and pushes through pension law

AFPProtests against raising the retirement age

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 16:09

French President Macron has sidelined parliament to push through the unpopular increase in the retirement age. As a result of the pension reform, the retirement age will be raised from 62 to 64 years.

Macron resorted to a special constitutional procedure because it was by no means certain that parliament would agree to the pension adjustment.

The decision to bypass the House of Representatives was taken minutes before the vote. The pension reforms have led to massive demonstrations and work stoppages across the country in recent months.

French national anthem

Earlier, the vote on Macron’s pension plans in the House of Representatives degenerated into chaos. The Senate did agree. Today, after the senate, the House of Representatives also had to vote on an amended text.

When Prime Minister Borne entered the Assembly to say that the vote would not take place and that the law had been passed through a ‘special procedure’, she was met with boos from left-wing MPs, who then prevented her from speaking through the French national anthem to sing.

The decision to pass the law outside parliament could lead to fierce action from the trade unions and a vote of no confidence from the left-wing opposition. Riot police and armed guards had been deployed outside the parliament building for fear of disturbances.

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