French government raises retirement age bypassing Parliament

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Born announced on March 16 that she would pass a law raising the country’s retirement age from 62 to 64, BFMTV reported. This happened without a final vote in the lower house of parliament. Due to the risk of not getting the required number of votes in the National Assembly (lower house of parliament), French President Emmanuel Macron approved the use of Art. 49.3 of the constitution, which allows the adoption of a law without the approval of parliament. If this article is applied, deputies have the right to raise the issue of no confidence in the government within 24 hours. Article 49.3 can only be used to vote on finance bills, social security financing, and only once per parliamentary session.

During the speech, Born had to shout over disgruntled deputies who opposed the reform and sang the Marseillaise. The leader of the far-right National Rally party, Marine Le Pen, has already said that the country’s prime minister should resign, as her actions are a “slap in the face of democracy.” She said she would put on the agenda the issue of a vote of no confidence in the government, adding that France was in fact in a political crisis. The head of the French Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, also said that he was ready to support a vote of no confidence in the country’s government.