Pension protests: How does France get out of it?
Protests in France: demonstrators clash with police officers in Lyon. photo
© Laurent Cipriani/AP/dpa
The peaceful protests against the French pension reform have turned into violent riots. Is it really only about contribution limits and retirement age?
France is angry. The peaceful protests at the beginning of the year against the pension reform have developed into a conflagration. Germany’s neighboring country is now also discussing police violence against demonstrators, disregard for democracy and the resignation of the government. MP Aurore Bergé tweeted about death threats against her and her four-month-old baby for voting in favor of pension reform. How could it come to this?
Since the beginning of the year, the unions have repeatedly called for strikes and demonstrations against the pension reform that has since been passed, which they brand as brutal and unfair. However, the government under President Emmanuel Macron considers them necessary to plug an impending hole in the pension fund. Therefore, the retirement age should be raised from 62 to 64 years. In fact, retirement begins later on average: those who have not paid in long enough to receive a full pension work longer. At the age of 67 there is then a pension without any deductions, regardless of how long it has been paid in – the government intends to keep this, even if the number of years required to pay in for a full pension is to increase more quickly.
The days of strikes and protests were mostly peaceful for weeks. But ever since the government punched through the controversial reform last week without a vote by the National Assembly, violence has escalated. The door of Bordeaux’s town hall was set on fire, the mayor of Rennes denounced “scenes of chaos” in her city. A protester had her thumb ripped off in Rouen, a police station was attacked in Lorient and a union activist received a serious eye injury in Paris. Audio recordings show a police force intimidating and beating demonstrators, franceinfo reports.
International observers are concerned
International observers are also concerned about the escalation of the protests. The Council of Europe expressed alarm at the violence and called for freedom of assembly to be protected.
The fact that Macron is now planning a visit from British King Charles III on Friday. canceled could be a sign that he’s lost control. At the very least, it should probably be a signal internally that he’s dealing with people’s frustrations instead of basking in royalty.
But is that enough? The next strikes and demonstrations are planned for Tuesday. The unions announced major actions, the mood is heated.
It is unclear what will happen after that. A national referendum against the project would be possible. The reform has been passed, but is pending examination by the Constitutional Council. It is not yet clear when this decision will be made. Macron wants the reform to come into force by the end of the year.
Laurent Berger from the CFDT union, on the other hand, is calling for the project to be put on hold. Macron then said at the EU summit in Brussels that he was open to talks with the unions – on all sorts of work and social issues, but not on the reform. So far, Macron has clung to his key project, it seems. Communist politician Fabien Roussel told RMC that Macron may hope that the peace-loving citizens will switch to his side. “I wonder if Macron isn’t trying everything to radicalize the movement and turn public opinion against the demonstrations – and that’s serious.”
Parallels to the yellow vest movement in 2018
Some observers see parallels to the yellow vest movement in 2018 and 2019. At that time, the increase in taxes on fuel was the trigger for extensive social protests. Macron partially calmed the unrest with a national citizens’ debate. “Emmanuel Macron is trying to save his electoral base, but also his alternative majority, which is fragmented like a puzzle,” analyzed political scientist Benjamin Morel at franceinfo.
Will he succeed? The winner of the current chaos seems to be someone else: Marine Le Pen. In a recent poll by the Sunday newspaper “Le Journal du Dimanche,” her right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National (RN) party is making a big leap forward. If elected next Sunday, the RN would be tied for first place with the left-wing alliance Nupes. Macron’s Renaissance party would only be in third place.