French government survives no-confidence votes over pensions

By SYLVIE CORBET and ELAINE GANLEY
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Parliament has adopted a divisive pension bill raising the retirement age in France from 62 to 64, after lawmakers in the lower chamber rejected two no-confidence votes against the government. But the bill pushed through last week by President Emmanuel Macron without lawmakers’ approval still faces a review by the Constitutional Council before it can be signed into law. The council has the power to reject articles within bills but usually approves them. The first no-confidence vote, proposed by a small centrist group with support across the left, narrowly missed approval by National Assembly lawmakers Monday afternoon, garnering 278 of the 287 votes needed to pass. The second motion, brought by the far-right National Rally, won just 94 votes in the chamber.