French Senate approves Macron’s pension plan amid new protests – By Al Jazeera and News Agencies (Al Jazeera) / Mar 12, 2023
French unions call for an additional day of nationwide strikes and protests as Senate vote brings pension plan closer to becoming law.
The French Senate has approved President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular pension reform plan as hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied in cities across the country to oppose the changes.
Senators voted late on Saturday to adopt the reforms by 195 votes to 112, bringing the package — whose key measure is raising the retirement age by two years to 64 — closer to becoming law.
“After hundreds of hours of discussions, the Senate adopted the pension reform plan. It is a key step to make a reform happen that will guarantee the future of our pension system,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne wrote on Twitter.
She added she was “totally committed to ensure the text will be definitively adopted in the coming days”.
