Protests against France’s pension reform: 46 arrests in Paris

After the pension reform was passed, there was great resentment in France – the anger of many was vented on the streets. Macron wants to make a public statement this Wednesday, but it is questionable whether that will calm the mood.

EOnce again there are violent protests in several French cities against the decided pension reform came. According to media reports, 46 people were arrested in Paris on Wednesday night after police officers were thrown at them with projectiles and demonstrators set fire to garbage cans and scooters. The police used tear gas against some of the approximately 3,500 demonstrators.

According to the newspaper “Le Parisien”, there were also protests with thousands of participants in Lille, Grenoble, Rennes, Nantes and Le Mans. This Wednesday wants to become President Emmanuel Macron express it publicly in an interview. He should try to relax the difficult situation.

On Monday evening, almost 300 people were arrested during the violent protests across France. The reform to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 years was passed on Monday evening after two motions of no confidence tabled by the opposition were rejected. It is considered one of Macron’s most important projects. There have been repeated strikes and violent protests against the reform in France for weeks.

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 is then a pension without any deductions, regardless of how long it has been paid in – the government wants to keep this, even if the number of years required to pay in for a full pension is to increase more quickly. She wants to increase the monthly minimum pension to around 1,200 euros.