The French Senate approves raising the minimum retirement age to 64 years

MADRID, 9 Mar. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The French Senate has approved this Wednesday the key article of the pension reform project that raises the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 years.

Legislators have given the go-ahead to article 7, which postpones the retirement age, with 201 votes in favor and 115 votes against, as reported by the BFMTV network.

In detail, it should be noted that the votes against have been mainly from the socialist, communist and environmental groups, according to the scrutiny of the Upper House.

In statements to the aforementioned television channel, the French Labor Minister, Olivier Dussopt, has assessed that the approval of this article by the Senate is a "vote of responsibility", at the same time that he has underlined the "very broad" majority and has criticized the behavior of the left, which he has described as "obstruction".

"It is above all a vote of responsibility of the Senate. (...) We have disagreements, we have discussions with the Senate, it is normal, but on the question of age, on the answers that must be given to the structural deficit, we will be able to gradually increase retirement age," Dussopt said.

However, legislators have to examine and approve, before the end of the week, the entire bill, which includes a revaluation of pensions to 85 percent of the minimum interprofessional salary, around 1,200 euros net.

These measures have met with the response of society in the streets, which has participated in several demonstrations in recent weeks, bringing together more than 1.28 million people during the day on Tuesday, according to government data in the last of them. The main unions confirmed new demonstrations on Saturday, indicating that "the government must withdraw its project now."