France’s Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne announced talks with the opposition after the mass protests against the pension reform. In the first week of April, she will meet leading opposition politicians and representatives of the governing parties and communities to “calm the country down,” Borne told the AFP news agency today.
Borne emphasized that she was ready to meet with all social partners. According to them, talks with representatives of trade unions and employers’ associations could take place in the second week of April.
Among other things, the reform provides for gradually raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. The French government had resorted to a much-criticized constitutional article to push the reform through parliament without a final vote. Of two subsequent no-confidence motions, she survived one with only nine votes.
The reform has been causing protests and sometimes serious riots in France for weeks. Another day of nationwide protests is planned for Tuesday.
