Vote on pension reform expected in France

The wrangling over the controversial pension reform in France is coming to an end. Both houses of parliament are expected to vote on the government’s plans to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 on Thursday. The reform might then be decided. A commission made up of members of the Senate and the National Assembly drew up a compromise between the chambers on Wednesday.

The reform is considered one of President Emmanuel Macron’s most important projects. Approval in the Senate is considered certain. In the National Assembly, a majority for the project did not seem certain until the end. The government does not have an absolute majority in the Chamber. She relies on the votes of the conservative Républicains, whose faction is split.

Currently, the retirement age in France is 62 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 will then be a pension without any deductions, regardless of how long it has been paid in – the government wants to keep this up, even if the number of years required to pay in for a full pension is to increase faster than previously planned. She wants to increase the monthly minimum pension to around 1,200 euros. With the reform, the government wants to close the impending gap in the pension fund.