The French parliament will vote today on a new pension law. With this law, President Emmanuel Macron wants to gradually increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 in 2030. This brings a lot of dissatisfaction among the French. “If the law is approved, Macron can count on protests,” says France correspondent Eveline Bijlsma.
“Booms”
But the first question is whether the law will be approved. Macron lacks a majority in the French parliament. “He needs 287 votes and with his own party he only has 250. So he still needs to find a small number of 40 supporters for the law to pass.” Bijlsma expects that much of the votes the French president needs will come from Les Républicains, the French equivalent of the VVD.
But within Macron’s party things are booming. Three or four politicians intend to vote against or abstain from voting,’ says Bijlsma. If that happens, the opposing side needs fewer votes. “That’s why it remains exciting.”
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Macron has another ace up his sleeve: Article 49.3 of the Constitution. “He allows him to pass laws without a vote,” explains the correspondent from France. But the French president is reluctant to use that law because he won’t make him more popular if he chooses to. At the same time, Macron’s position has been that this time it will actually happen. Raising the retirement age was above market.”
“If the law is passed, more than half of the French will take to the streets again”
The majority of the French population is therefore still not in agreement with this increase, and there have already been eight strong protests against it. If the pension law manages to pay a narrow majority, 60 percent of French people will take to the streets to protest again. Furthermore, the opposition has already announced that it will table a motion of censure in that case. “So it will be difficult for Macron,” says Bijlsma.
Source: BNR
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