Is this reform accepted? Obviously not. Despite months of talks.
Emmanuel Macron, President of France.
Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, said he hears the anger against his unpopular pension reform but stressed that it is necessary and that it will come into force, in a speech that the opposition said was “disconnected from reality.”
“No one can remain deaf to this anger of the protesters,” Macron said in a televised address from the Élysée Palace, lamenting that no consensus has been reached on this key reform for his second term until 2027.
France has been experiencing a political and social crisis since January due to this reform that delays the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030 and brings forward to 2027 the requirement to contribute 43 years, and not 42, to collect a full pension.
Despite the rejection of the unions and the vast majority of French people, according to polls, Macron decided in March to adopt this law by decree, fearing he would lose the vote in Parliament, which radicalized the protests and increased discontent.
Proof of the prevailing discontent with this law, which will come into force next autumn, were the pot-slaps in front of town halls in various cities in France during the speech.
“Surreal Macron. Completely disconnected from reality, he assumes the theft of two years of freedom. Saucepans sound more accurate,” said the leader of the radical left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
To turn the page on the crisis, the head of state announced a new pact on life at work, which will address the improvement of income and working conditions and a better distribution of wealth, among other aspects.
The unions refuse to meet with Macron before May 1, the date on which they called for an exceptional mobilization. On March 7, they managed to mobilize between 1.28 and 3.5 million people, according to the police and the CGT union, respectively.
Macron gave himself 100 days of appeasement, unity, ambition and action to relaunch his second term with new measures on migration, education and health, among others, and advanced that he will make a first balance on July 14, the day of the national holiday.
