Pension reform suspended: crisis in France over?
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has postponed the controversial reform raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 until January 2028. The idea is to create the confidence needed to develop new solutions, he explained on Tuesday. For the opposition Socialists, who had vigorously pushed for this move, the decision marks a victory. The planned reform led to months of mass protests across the country in 2023.
Reprieve for the government
All in all, the current developments are a step in the right direction, Libération writes in praise:
“Does the suspension of the pension reform spell the end of the country's dire political crisis? Of course not. ... The causes of this crisis are manifold, its roots too deep for us to naively believe that everything could be settled in one session of the National Assembly - even a historic one. ... The major decision to suspend the pension reform until the next presidential election will not resolve the political crisis, but it will avert the danger of a vote of no confidence against the Lecornu government, and thus also the renewed dissolution of parliament. ... In this way, it could perhaps help to prevent the country from sliding further into a government crisis. And that is no small thing.”
A sorry spectacle
Le Figaro paints a bleak picture:
“It's easy to imagine that the 14 billion euros in tax increases are just the beginning of a fiscal frenzy that is likely to dominate budget debates. ... It's a sorry spectacle to witness the collective suicide of the centrist parties and the Republicans, leaving the field open for the left and the RN in 2027. It's just as sad to see a prime minister being publicly humiliated in this way. ... And it is a shocking image of a president willing to sacrifice everything - institutions, people, reforms - just to stay in power. This is a false victory, a true defeat.”
The president's capitulation
This is a total defeat for Macron, says La Repubblica:
“Two years after the pension reform caused turmoil in France, it has now been shelved. Last night, Sébastien Lecornu announced the 'complete and total suspension' of the law that raised the retirement age from 62 to 64. A surprising turn of events that puts an end, at least for the time being, to one of the fiercest social and political battles since Emmanuel Macron took office at the Élysée Palace. A capitulation that smacks of political decline. Macronism's symbolic reform - the most controversial, the most hated, but also the most stubbornly defended by the head of state - is disappearing.”
Further chaos also a problem for Sweden
Sydsvenskan is concerned:
“For a small, export-dependent country in Northern Europe, strong trading partners are important – including the EU giants France and Germany. So Macron's crisis is also a headache for Sweden. The risk of more political chaos in France is likely to increase if Macron's budget is blocked again in parliament. ... This could fuel discontent and benefit the right-wing nationalists in the 2027 presidential election. And with Marine Le Pen or Jordan Bardella as president of the republic, neither France's budget problems nor the stagnation in Europe are likely to disappear.”