France, the Senate votes to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. Protests and strikes

The French Senate approved shortly after midnight the key article of the pension reform bill, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64.

201 votes in favor, 115 no out of 345 voters, after a heated battle also procedural with the left.

The green light came after yet another day of mobilization and strikes against the reform, in a climate of growing pressure on President Emmanuel Macron with whom the unions asked for an "urgent meeting", without result. "I am delighted that the debates have made this vote possible," tweeted Prime Minister French Elisabeth Borne.

Silent since the beginning of the examination of the text, last Thursday, the majority of the Senate has used the heavy artillery of the regulation to speed up debates in the face of the obstructionism of the left. The latter was outraged by the "coup de force". "You are ruining the debate", "the so-called wisdom of the Senate has suffered a blow", criticized the leader of the communist senators Eliane Assassi.

According to the government's plan, the legal retirement age will be gradually raised from 62 to 64, at the rate of 3 months per year, from September 1, 2023 to 2030. In addition, to obtain a "full-rate" pension (without discount), the required contribution period will be increased from the current 42 years to 43 years by 2027, at the rate of one quarter per year.

As for the demands of the trade unions, Borne said in the Senate that "the door of the Minister of Labour, Olivier Dussopt, is always open", assuring that "the government is always ready and open to dialogue", and that it is "in consultation and dialogue that this text has been built".

Earlier, government spokesman Olivier Véran explained that President Macron "respects institutions." "It would be a mistake if the president received" unions, who "want to personalize the debate, for or against the president," says a government source.

Emmanuel Macron, who had made reform a pillar of his presidential program, has been in the background since its presentation in early January, leaving the prime minister and her government at the forefront. Elisabeth Borne is counting on the Republican vote to avoid resorting to adopting a text without a vote, which would be perceived as a forced passage.

Especially since, as Olivier Véran himself admits, the project "does not have the support of the majority of French people". For this reason, Emmanuel Macron will have to "reformulate a project for the country" and then "open a new page" at the end of the pension reform, said MoDem president Francois Bayrou.