Macron defends the pension reform in France and stresses that "people know that you have to work a little more"

The president says that delaying the retirement age is necessary to maintain a system that is "a treasure"

MADRID, 21 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, defended this Tuesday the pension reform project, which has sparked mobilizations in the country and has caused a drop in his popularity, before stressing that "people know that you have to work a little more".

Macron, who has made a visit to the Rungis market early in the day, has said that "the real debate that must take place in society is that of work", before insisting that "the reform allows the creation of more wealth for the country", according to the French newspaper 'Le Parisien'.

"In general, people know that they have to work a little more, on average," argued the French president, who has appealed to "common sense." "It is not true to say that we can maintain the same (retirement) ages, that does not work in this matter," he stressed.

In this way, the Élysée tenant has defended raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 to maintain a system that he has described as "a treasure" and as "the heritage of those who have nothing." "I believe in work", he has said, at the same time that he has reiterated that "all the reforms carried out are in this direction".

"Work must continue and be better paid," said Macron, who has opted to "adapt" the labor reality. "When you work at night and carry weight from a certain age, it is necessary for (work) careers to evolve, that you can work less or that you can retrain and that this is taken into account with a view to retirement," he concluded. .

The French National Assembly failed to reach a global vote last week regarding the pension reform promoted by the Government, so the text automatically goes to the Senate, all this while the unions call new strikes against the increase of retirement age.

In this sense, the French Democratic Confederation of Labor has indicated that a major strike and demonstration against the pension reform is scheduled to take place on March 7, after five demonstrations in less than a month.