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OPINION AND ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS: Macron secures pension victory but gloom deepens in France

President Emmanuel Macron looks to have won his battle to push through a widely unpopular pension reform, but many experts and historians believe he has now deepened the gloom enveloping French democracy.

French President Emmanuel Macron prior to speech
President Emmanuel Macron looks to have won his battle to push through a widely unpopular pension reform, but the move may have triggered a democratic crisis. Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP

France’s constitutional court approved the core parts of Macron’s pension reform on Friday, paving the way for the centrist head of state to sign into law a hike in the retirement age to 64 from its current level of 62.

But the manner in which the legislation has been passed – in the face of opposition from two out of three voters, trade unions, and a majority of MPs in the National Assembly – has dismayed even previously sympathetic observers.

Pierre Rosanvallon, a highly respected sociologist and historian, issued a striking warning in early April that Macron needed to restore the legitimacy of his presidential office in the eyes of voters.

“Without this, the time of revolutions could come back, or else there will be an accumulation of toxic disaffection which will open the way for far-right populism,” the centre-left thinker told Liberation newspaper.

READ ALSO: Macron signs French pension reform into law despite fierce protests

Political historian Jean Garrigues also wrote that it was “all of our institutional foundations, all of our political figures which are discredited” by the way the reform had been passed.

“The link between our citizens and their national representatives has been stretched further in this crisis, as it was during the Yellow Vests,” Garrigues wrote in Le Monde newspaper, referring to fierce anti-Macron protests in 2018.

Clash between police and demonstrators in France

Protests in France look set to continue after President Macron signed his controversial pension reform into law on Saturday. Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Criticism has focused in particular on how the president’s minority government rammed the legislation through parliament on March 16 without a vote.

The move – legal but controversial – came after other constitutional measures were used to keep parliamentary debate to a minimum, deepening the sense of outrage felt by protesters who have taken to the streets almost every week since January.

The sometimes violent protests peaked at 1.28 million people on March 7th, according to official statistics, the biggest in a generation.

“This protest movement will leave a mark in the history of our country, through its size and the new people who have joined in,” the leader of the moderate CFDT union, Laurent Berger, told reporters as he marched – for the 12th time since January – on Thursday.

He repeated his belief that the country faced a “democratic crisis.”

“No crisis”

In his only media interview on the subject of pensions since his election to a second term last April, Macron conceded that he and his government had failed to win the battle for public opinion.

Asked if he had any regrets, he told the TF1 channel: “If I have any, it’s that we haven’t always succeeded in convincing people of the necessity of this reform, which I don’t take pleasure in.”

But he remained convinced that it was “necessary” and for the greater good of the country – to avoid pension deficits forecast to hit 13.5 billion euros by 2030, and to bring the country into line with its EU neighbours.

READ ALSO: EXPLAINED: Why Friday’s court ruling could prolong French pensions dispute for another 15 months

Furthermore, he saw it as legitimate given that he had been re-elected on a platform that included the pension reform and a pledge to make France “work more” to pay for one of the most expensive welfare systems in the world.

Some allies had warned him beforehand, however, about the risks of hiking the retirement age in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis and so soon after Covid-19.

French President Emmanuel Macron speaking in China

Macron shot back at critics during his visit to China last week, saying that his pension reform had been “proposed democratically”. Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP

Speaking in China last week, he shot back at critics.

“You can’t call it a democratic crisis when an elected president […] seeks to implement a policy that has been proposed democratically,” he told reporters in off-the-record remarks that were published in the French media.

“If people wanted to retire at 60, then they shouldn’t have elected me as president.”

A new republic?

The talk of crisis and revolution comes amid gathering evidence that confidence in French democracy is waning.

A widely watched annual poll published by the Cevipof political institute at Sciences Po university in Paris showed in February that two out of three people (64 percent) thought French democracy was functioning “not well”.

An even higher proportion had negative feelings about politicians (72 percent) and still more (82 percent) thought politicians did not share their priorities.

The pensions reform has also revived debate about whether the current constitution, the foundation of the modern Fifth Republic, is fit for purpose.

READ ALSO: OPINION: In France even riots used to have rules, now political violence is spiralling

Approved during a national emergency and shaped by war-time hero Charles de Gaulle, it created an executive presidency with powers superior to any other western European chancellory or prime minister’s office.

“This constitution which hands extremely brutal, authoritarian powers to the governing power is crashing into a society that no longer tolerates decisions seen as too top-down,” said constitutional expert Bastian Francois.

“What was acceptable in the 60s, even in the 80s, is less and less acceptable today,” the historian at the Sorbonne university in Paris told AFP.

By AFP’s Adam Plowright

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ELECTIONS

Explained: The party manifestos for France’s snap elections

As the formal campaign period begins in France's snap legislative elections, here's a look at the manifestos of the main parties and what they mean for foreigners living here.

Explained: The party manifestos for France's snap elections

Monday marks the start of the official campaign period for France’s snap legislative elections – a brief two-week campaign before the first round of voting on Sunday, June 30th followed by round two a week later on July 7th. 

Here’s a look at the manifestos of the main parties, with a particular emphasis on any immigration policies that would affect the lives of foreigners in France, or those planning to move here some day.

Renaissance

First up is Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party Renaissance – its platform was unveiled by Macron himself in a televised press conference, with a more detailed programme unveiled later by prime minister Gabriel Attal.

The party is at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to the programme, since its main policy goals are already known and it is limited by financial and other factors from announcing any especially bold new goals. The result was that Macron in his launch speech was left to talk about policies that had already been announced or vague goals such as holding a ‘national debate’ on France’s secularism policy.

Macron also framed the election as a ‘battle against extremism’ saying: “I hope that when the time comes, men and women of goodwill who will have been able to say no to the extremes will come together… to build a shared, sincere project that is useful to the country.” 

Programme – Much of the programme will be familiar since Macron was after all re-elected in 2022 and set out his five-year plan at the time. On the economy and the environment, the president said that his party would continue to grow foreign investment in France, cut unemployment and work towards the ‘green reindustrialisation’ of the country – a Macron pet project to create jobs and industry in France by embracing new green technologies such as car batteries.

He also re-committed to France’s domestic nuclear energy programme, and to France’s strong support for Ukraine.

Among the new parts were a ‘great national debate’ on the tricky subject of French state secularism (laïcité) and limits to access to screens for children – as recommended by a commission of experts.

Attal also unveiled some new measures on the key issue of the cost-of-living, with promises to triple the ‘Macron bonus’ paid to some employees from €3,000 a year to €10,000, index-linking pensions to inflation, reducing utility bills by 15 percent next winter and help for parents in buying school supplies.

He also proposes axing the notaire fee (in reality a kind of tax on home purchases) for any property purchased for under €250,000 and setting up an extra renovation fund to give grants to property-owners to repairs and energy works.

Some ongoing Macronist legislation such as changing the law on assisted dying has been interrupted on its journey through parliament, but would likely restart if the party wins a majority.

The party’s programme makes no specific suggestions for changes to the immigration system, but it did just introduce a new immigration law in January that – among other things – introduces a language test requirement for certain types of residency cards and raises the language level required for French citizenship through naturalisation.

Front Populaire

France’s largest leftist political parties have struck an election pact not to stand candidates against each other – in order to avoid dividing the leftist vote.

This means that the hard-left La France Insoumise will field 229 candidates, the centre-left Parti Socialiste will field 175, the Green EELV 92 and the Communists 50. It also means that the parties are presenting a single, joint manifesto under the banner of Nouveau Front Populaire – which has been the subject of much argument and some awkward compromises.

Programme – much of the programme is concerned with cancelling recent Macronist laws. Among the laws it says it will cancel are the new immigration bill – the one that introduces French language tests for certain types of residency card and raises the language level required for French citizenship.

The manifesto also proposes introducing a 10-year carte de séjour residency card ‘as the standard card’ – at present the standard model is for one-year cards initially and then move on to five-year and then 10-year cards, although there are significant variations based on your personal status (eg working, student, retired or family member).

Also set for the chop are Macron’s changes to unemployment benefits plus a cancellation of the price rises in electricity and gas and the reintroduction of the ‘wealth tax’ scrapped by Macron in 2018. Meanwhile the pension age would be dropped down to 60 (cancelling Macron’s law raising it from 62 to 64 and dropping it another two years).

The party would also raise the Smic (minimum wage) to €1,600 a month.

The environment forms a key part of the manifesto with a range of green incentives plus tax and financing rules that would clamp down on fossil fuels.

On foreign policy there are some delicately worded compromises since views on Ukraine and Gaza had previously split the leftist alliance. The group promises to “unfailingly defend the sovereignty and freedom of the Ukrainian people” including by delivering weapons and writing off debt. On Gaza, the party would recognise the Palestinian state and embargo arms supplies to Israel.

Policy towards the EU – a topic that divides the left – is left to one side.

Rassemblement National

The far-right Rassemblement National party will be joined by at least some candidates from the right-wing Les Republicains party, although the internal party divide over that pact will see some LR candidates independently. 

Programme – the party makes immigration one of its key concerns, with a commitment to “drastically reduce legal and illegal immigration and deport foreign criminals” listed as a priority.

The programme opposes both non-economic migration and family reunification – no detail is given on changes to the visa or residency card system in this area, but it seems likely that anyone wanting to move for non-work related reasons (eg retirees) would face restrictions. Likewise spouse visas would be affected by any changes to family reunification rules.

Non-French citizens would only be able to access social benefits such as housing benefits or caring allowances after working in France for five years and there would also be a ‘French first’ preference for access to employment and social housing.

Residency permits would be withdrawn for any non-French citizens who have been unemployed for more than one year.

Asylum claims would exclusively be processed outside France.

When it comes to French citizenship, the party wants to abolish the droit du sol, which gives the right to French citizenship to children born in France to foreign parents and limit access to citizenship for adults “on the basis of merit and assimilation” – it’s not clear how this would differ from the current system where candidates must already prove that they speak French and understand French culture and politics.

The party also has a strong line on law and order – doubling the number of magistrates, increasing fines for certain offences, adding those convicted of street harassment to the sex offenders’ register and creating a “presumption of legitimate defence” for police officers who kill or injure members of the public.

This article is part of a series on election platforms in France, we will look at each party’s economic platform in a separate piece. You can follow all the latest election news in our election section HERE, and you can also sign up here to receive our bi-weekly election breakdown during the campaign period

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