French Senate approves controversial pension reform

Despite protests from hundreds of people, the French Senate has approved President Emmanuel Macron's controversial plan to change the pension law. According to AFP, the Senate passed the bill by a vote of 195 to 112 on Saturday night. There were 37 abstentions. This plan will be submitted to the joint committee of the chambers and is expected to be reviewed in this committee on Wednesday. If that plan is approved by the chambers' joint committee, the Senate and National Assembly are expected to vote on it on Thursday. But the outcome of the vote in the National Assembly (lower house) is still uncertain because Macron's party needs the votes of other parties to get the plan through.

With the approval of the Senate, however, Macron has come a step closer to realizing his controversial reform. It envisages gradually raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. There is broad resistance to the reform in France. Rallies called for by the trade unions took place again in many cities yesterday. According to the authorities, around 370,000 people responded to the call. The government under President Emmanuell Macron wants to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. In addition, the number of payment years required for a full pension should increase more quickly.