Macron Ignores Parliament, Raises French Retirement Age
2023-03-17
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1French President Emmanuel Macron ordered a highly unpopular bill Thursday to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
2Macron acted without the support of Parliament.
3The country's lawmaking body is expected to react with proposals to withdraw parliamentary support of Macron's government.
4Police vehicles circled the National Assembly building in preparation for possible unrest.
5The proposed retirement age and pension changes have led to major strikes and protests across the country since January.
6Macron argues that reform is needed to keep the pension system from falling into deficit.
7The decision to use special constitutional powers to order the measure was made during a Cabinet meeting.
8It took place just a few minutes before Parliament was to vote on the proposal.
9Macron had no guarantee of a majority in France's lower house of parliament.
10Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne tried to officially announce the decision at the National Assembly.
11Some members interfered by singing the French national song.
12The speaker had to briefly suspend the meeting to return order to the process.
13Borne said the presidential order was a necessary measure.
14"We cannot take the risk to see 175 hours of parliamentary debate collapse ... We cannot gamble on the future of our pensions," she said.
15Borne said her government is accountable to the parliament. Opposition members answered her with booing.
16Lawmakers on the liberal and conservative sides quickly confirmed their next moves.
17Marine Le Pen said her National Rally party would present a proposal to withdraw support.
18Communist Party lawmaker Fabien Roussel said a similar proposal is "ready" from his group.
19"The mobilization will continue," Roussel said.
20"This reform must be suspended."
21A withdrawal of support requires at least half the members of Parliament's lower house to vote in favor of the proposal.
22That means 287 votes. The last time the French government was forced to resign was in 1962.
23If proposals to withdraw support fail, the pension bill would be considered enacted.
24Earlier Thursday, the French Senate adopted the retirement age raise bill in a 193-114 vote.
25Macron wants to raise the retirement age so workers put more money into the system.
26He has pushed the pension changes as a central method for making the French economy more competitive.
27The reform would raise the lowest age for pension.
28It also would require 43 years of work to earn a full pension, along with other changes.
29Almost 500,000 people protested against the bill around the country Wednesday.
30Economic difficulties have led to widespread unrest across Western Europe.
31In Britain on Wednesday, teachers, doctors in training and public transport workers were striking for higher wages.
32And Spain's government joined with labor unions to announce a "historic" deal to save its pension system by raising social security costs for higher wage earners.
33All three European nations are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
34In 2020, the OECD says, the average normal retirement age among member nations was 64.2 years for men and 63.4 years for women.
35I'm Caty Weaver.
1French President Emmanuel Macron ordered a highly unpopular bill Thursday to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. Macron acted without the support of Parliament. 2The country's lawmaking body is expected to react with proposals to withdraw parliamentary support of Macron's government. Police vehicles circled the National Assembly building in preparation for possible unrest. 3The proposed retirement age and pension changes have led to major strikes and protests across the country since January. Macron argues that reform is needed to keep the pension system from falling into deficit. 4The decision to use special constitutional powers to order the measure was made during a Cabinet meeting. It took place just a few minutes before Parliament was to vote on the proposal. Macron had no guarantee of a majority in France's lower house of parliament. 5Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne tried to officially announce the decision at the National Assembly. Some members interfered by singing the French national song. The speaker had to briefly suspend the meeting to return order to the process. 6Borne said the presidential order was a necessary measure. "We cannot take the risk to see 175 hours of parliamentary debate collapse ... We cannot gamble on the future of our pensions," she said. 7Borne said her government is accountable to the parliament. Opposition members answered her with booing. 8Lawmakers on the liberal and conservative sides quickly confirmed their next moves. 9Marine Le Pen said her National Rally party would present a proposal to withdraw support. Communist Party lawmaker Fabien Roussel said a similar proposal is "ready" from his group. 10"The mobilization will continue," Roussel said. "This reform must be suspended." 11A withdrawal of support requires at least half the members of Parliament's lower house to vote in favor of the proposal. That means 287 votes. The last time the French government was forced to resign was in 1962. 12If proposals to withdraw support fail, the pension bill would be considered enacted. 13Earlier Thursday, the French Senate adopted the retirement age raise bill in a 193-114 vote. 14Macron wants to raise the retirement age so workers put more money into the system. 15He has pushed the pension changes as a central method for making the French economy more competitive. The reform would raise the lowest age for pension. It also would require 43 years of work to earn a full pension, along with other changes. 16Almost 500,000 people protested against the bill around the country Wednesday. 17Economic difficulties have led to widespread unrest across Western Europe. In Britain on Wednesday, teachers, doctors in training and public transport workers were striking for higher wages. And Spain's government joined with labor unions to announce a "historic" deal to save its pension system by raising social security costs for higher wage earners. 18All three European nations are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In 2020, the OECD says, the average normal retirement age among member nations was 64.2 years for men and 63.4 years for women. 19I'm Caty Weaver. 20The Associated Press reported this story. Caty Weaver adapted it for Learning English. 21_____________________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23pension -n. an amount of money paid on a usual basis to a person especially following retirement 24gamble -v. to take action that has an element of risk 25mobilization -n. the act of putting something into movement or circulation 26boo -v. to shout disapproval or contempt 27______________________________________________________________________ 28What do you think of this story? We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 29Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them.