Macron champions pension plan as key to French economy

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is advocating for his contested plan to increase the pension eligibility age. Macron visited the Rungis International Market in the southern suburbs of Paris on Tuesday for his first public discussion with French workers since lawmakers started debating the government’s pension-reform legislation earlier this month, prompting series of strikes and protests. The bill would push back the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 and require people to have worked for at least 43 years to receive a full pension. Macron said the changes were part of the pro-business policies he has promoted since he took office and that people need to work “a little longer” to sustain the pension system.