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French government defiant on pensions ahead of crucial votes

France's government on Sunday held its ground over a bitterly contested pension reform rammed through parliament without a vote, a day before it faces crucial no-confidence motions.

French government defiant on pensions ahead of crucial votes
France's Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne (L), flanked by France's Labour Minister Olivier Dussopt (2ndR) and France's Minister for the Economy and Finances Bruno Le Maire. Photo: Alain JOCARD/AFP

“There will be no majority to bring the government down, but it will be a moment of truth,” Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said of the two efforts to unseat the cabinet planned for Monday afternoon.

“I understand our countrymen’s fears and anxieties, but we will definitely not improve things by denying economic reality,” he told daily Le Parisien.

READ ALSO What does Monday’s no-confidence vote mean for Macron and France?

Monday’s two no-confidence motions have been filed by a small group of centrist MPs and the far-right National Rally.

Although President Emmanuel Macron’s camp has no absolute majority in the lower house National Assembly, it is the largest group and all of the opposition would need to unite for one of the votes to pass.

Most MPs from the conservative Republicans party are not expected to back a no-confidence motion.

Republicans chief Eric Ciotti wrote on Twitter Sunday that his constituency office had been pelted with rocks overnight.

“The killers who did this want to put pressure on my vote on Monday,” Ciotti wrote on Twitter, posting pictures showing smashed windows and threatening graffiti.

He has previously said that he would not “add chaos to chaos” by kicking the government out.

‘What do we have left?’

The government’s Thursday decision to resort to Article 49.3 of the constitution — which allows ramming a bill through parliament without a vote — has prompted anger in the streets after weeks of mostly peaceful protests and strikes against the plans.

Labour Minister Olivier Dussopt told the JDD weekly that “it’s not an admission of failure, but it’s heart-breaking” to have used the nuclear option to pass the reform.

Police on Saturday closed Paris’ Place de la Concorde opposite parliament for demonstrations following two successive nights of clashes.

Some 122 people were arrested as some set rubbish bins on fire, destroyed bus stops and erected improvised barricades around a 4,000-strong demonstration in the capital.

They made up the majority of Saturday’s 169 arrests nationwide.

Other demonstrations in cities around France had passed off peacefully, with hundreds turning out in the Mediterranean port city Marseille.

“What do we have left apart from continuing to demonstrate?” said Romain Morizot, a 33-year-old telecoms engineer, at the Marseille protest, predicting “social tensions” over the reform.

“There’s deep discontent, there’s a huge majority against this law, and we have a president who keeps moving forward and changing his arguments as he goes,” hard-left CGT union leader Philippe Martinez told broadcaster BFM Sunday.

People close to Macron told AFP that the president was “of course following developments” on the ground.

Refinery shutdown

Away from the streets of major cities, the CGT said Saturday that workers would shut down France’s largest oil refinery in Normandy, warning that two more could follow on Monday.

So far, strikers had only prevented fuel deliveries from leaving refineries but not completely halted operations.

Industrial action has also halted rubbish collection in much of Paris, with around 10,000 tonnes of waste now on the streets as the government forces some binmen back to work.

A ninth day of wider strikes and protests is planned for Thursday.

Macron’s reform raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 as well as increasing the number of years people must pay into the system to receive a full pension.

The government says the changes are needed to avoid crippling deficits in the coming decades linked to France’s ageing population.

“Those among us who can will gradually need to work more to finance our social model, which is one of the most generous in the world,” Le Maire said.

But opponents say the law places an unfair burden on low earners, women and people doing physically wearing jobs, and polls have consistently showed majorities opposed to the changes.

A survey of 2,000 people published in the JDD Sunday gave Macron an approval rating of 28 percent, its lowest since 2019’s mass “yellow vests” demonstrations against a new fuel tax.

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CRIME

Jail threat for ‘influencers’ under tough new French law

Influencers in France face the threat of prison sentences or major fines under new legislation adopted by parliament on Thursday that is aimed at cracking down on undeclared advertising and fraud.

Jail threat for 'influencers' under tough new French law

Touted as an effort to ensure online personalities face the same advertising rules as traditional media, the bill has made its way through parliament with cross-party support since March, culminating with a vote by the Senate on Thursday.

“The law of the jungle is over,” said Arthur Delaporte of the opposition Socialist Party who jointly sponsored the legislation with Stephane Vojetta from the ruling Renaissance party.

“We can be proud of this unprecedented agreement,” senator Amel Gacquerre, who piloted the legislation in the senate, said after the vote.

France is estimated to have around 150,000 influencers, many of whom have a modest audience, but some have millions of subscribers and help set trends in sectors from fashion to video games.

Their commercial activities – accepting money in exchange for promoting a product – are often undeclared and until now they have lacked a specific legal status in France.

The legislation will in theory force them to post the word “advertising” or “commercial partnership” when discussing products they have been paid to advertise, and make a formal contract mandatory.

It prohibits the promotion of cosmetic surgery, tobacco and some financial products and medical devices.

It also tightens rules for promoting sports betting and lottery games, which will be restricted to platforms that have the capacity to prohibit access to minors such as YouTube.

Violators of the rules could face punishments of up to two years in prison and €300,000 fines.

“The party is over for all of those that think you can cheat on the internet,” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire declared earlier this month.

“Influencers create jobs, value. They are in the most part extremely creative, imaginative and bring a lot to the French economy,” he told the BFM channel. “Then there are few troublemakers who manipulate, who use their role badly, and cheat consumers.”

Some experts say police and prosecutors will face difficulties enforcing the rules for such a huge number of online creators, however, with many of them based overseas in different jurisdictions but viewable in France.

A high-profile campaign against fraudulent influencers has been led in recent months by controversial French rapper Booba who has dubbed them “Influ-stealers”.

In messages and videos posted to his millions of social media followers, he has called himself a whistle-blower and targeted leading personality Magali Berdah in particular, the boss of influencer agency Shauna Events.

“Apart from having no talent, from promoting vacuous culture, of being idiots and not paying their taxes in France, they’re ripping people off,” he told French newspaper Libération last July.

Berdah denies wrongdoing and has launched legal action.

A collective called AVI (Help for the Victims of Influencers) has begun launching legal action on behalf of people who consider themselves victims of online financial fraud.

One of their targets is well-known French couple Marc and Nade Blata, who offer investment advice while showing off their life of luxury in Dubai. They also deny wrongdoing.

Economy Minister Le Maire has backed Booba, saying he is “right to underline abuses.”

At the end of March, the Union of Influencers and Content Creators, set up recently to represent the sector, had welcomed “commendable and essential proposals” to regulate the industry.

But it warned parliamentarians against the risk of “discriminating against or over-regulating” certain players.

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