The Hindu : French pension reforms cleared

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 25, 2003

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International

French pension reforms cleared

PARIS july 24. In a victory for the centre-right Government, French lawmakers on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a pension reform bill that had sparked several weeks of massive protests from angry workers. The passage by France's two chambers of Parliament, which was widely expected, clears the last legislative hurdle for the bill. It now moves on to a Constitutional Council that is also expected to approve it.

The vote was a major political victory to the Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who refused to back down despite paralysing transport strikes throughout May and June.

``This is a success for our entire country,'' said the Social Affairs Minister, Francois Fillon, the main proponent of the bill, speaking on the Senate floor. ``At a time when it was common to say that France was unreceptive to reform, the proof is here that change is possible.'' In Thursday's vote, the Senate approved the bill by a near 2-to-1 margin, while the National Assembly passed the measure by a vote of 393 to 152. The Government says the measure, which increases the number of years employees must work to get full retirement benefits, is needed to prevent the pension system from going bankrupt. — AP

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