French senators to start debating contested pension plan

By SYLVIE CORBET
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — French senators have started debating President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension plan. The centrist government hopes to find a compromise with conservatives members of the upper house of parliament to be able to push the bill through. Macron has vowed to go ahead with legislation  that aims to raise the country’s minimum retirement age from 62 to 64. But nationwide demonstrations and strikes and opinion polls consistently show a majority of French people oppose the change. The French Senate debate is scheduled to last until the end of next week. Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt argued Thursday that France’s pension system would be running at a deficit within 10 years “if we do nothing.”