Leaders | French reform

The trouble with Emmanuel Macron’s pension victory

The way a wise policy was forced through will have political costs

TOPSHOT - A firefighter holds a bin as he stands next to a burning pile of rubbish in front of Opera Garnier during a demonstration a few days after the government pushed a pensions reform through parliament without a vote, using the article 49,3 of the constitution in Paris on March 20, 2023. - The French government survived two no-confidence motions in parliament on March 20, 2023 but still faces intense pressure over its handling of a controversial pensions reform. (Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP) (Photo by CHRISTOPHE ARCHAMBAULT/AFP via Getty Images) — Image: Getty Images

Mar 23rd 2023

Any French president who asks his fellow citizens to retire later does so at his peril. When Jacques Chirac tried in 1995, crippling strikes made him shelve the project; 18 months later voters sacked his government. Piles of rubbish were left to rot on the streets, as they are today on the boulevards of Paris. Bin collectors have joined strikes against the decision by the current president, Emmanuel Macron, to raise the minimum pension age from 62 to 64. So it was with some relief that on March 20th his minority government narrowly survived two no-confidence votes, opening the way for his reform to enter the statute books.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “A half-victory”