The pension system is a cornerstone of Frances cherished social protection model and trade unions say extra funding can be found elsewhere, including by taxing the rich more heavily. Macron's signature and publication in the Official Journal of the French Republic allowed the law to enter into force. Macron continued to occupy a prominent place on the European stage, and he tried to act as a mediator between Moscow and Kyiv during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. Unions and Macrons political opponents vowed to maintain pressure on the government to withdraw the bill, and activists threatened scattered new protests Saturday. They were married until January 2006 when they were divorced. The council members are irresponsible, because the anger that will come right after in the country, its their fault, he said. One, sponsored by left-leaning and centrist lawmakers, received 278 votes, falling just 9 votes shy of the 287 necessary for passage. Most of them have later been released without charge. in history from Michigan State University in 1995. An influential disabled rights group in France is boycotting a conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, in protest at the failure to make Paris more accessible ahead of the 2024 Olympics, French President Emmanuel Macron's government is under pressure over the rights of people with disabilities as he hosts the country's first national conference on the issue since the COVID-19 pandemic, Hundreds of protesters opposed to France raising the retirement age from 62 to 64 have demonstrated in a southern town during a visit by President Emmanuel Macron, French President Emmanuel Macron has been met by hecklers and shouts for him to resign when he mingled a crowd in eastern France, A French publisher has called on British police to cease their investigation of an employee who it said was arrested on the way to the London Book Fair and questioned for hours about French President Emmanuel Macron's controversial pension reform scheme that sparked months of protests. The failure of the two motions meant that the pension reform bill became law. His wife, Brigitte Macron is 67 years old. Holding out hope to upend the decision, unions and some protesters recalled parallels with a contested 2006 measure about work contracts for youth that sent students, joined by unions, into the streets. France appears to be fairly divided on the issues, with more people gravitating to the extremes. PARIS (AP) Protesters loudly banged pots and pans near a castle where French President Emmanuel Macron was to make a speech Thursday, in what has become a popular way to voice anger at a resented new law raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. He's married to Brigitte Macron and has three stepchildren. The council will rule on a second, similar request, next month. Learn more about Friends of the NewsHour. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Fridays decision marks the end of the institutional and democratic path of this reform, adding that there was no victor in what has turned into a nationwide standoff and Frances worst social unrest in years. (AP Photo/Lewis Joly), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. The proclamation of the new law, which has sparked months of mass protest, came after France's constitutional council approved the pension-age increase from 62 to 64 on Friday. Workers who have gone on strike or protested the legislation since January are fighting for their rights, but nothing changes.. Is it a pleasure to do this reform? And all three have joined him in politics. His wife, Brigitte Macron, was a teacher at his high school in 1993. The President of France aka public enemy #1 for French workers across the country. Who is he? Bicycles burn during a protest outside the Paris City Hall on Friday, the day France's Constitutional Council approved an unpopular plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. As long as this reform isnt withdrawn, the mobilization will continue in one form or another, Sophie Binet, the CGT chief said Thursday. Honor-Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Emmanuel-Macron, GlobalSecurity.org - Biography of Emmanuel Macron, Emmanuel Macron - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up), Protest over disabled access in France before Paris Olympics, France under pressure over disabled rights as Olympics loom, Anger at new retirement age fuels further protests in France, France's Macron heckled by crowd angry over pensions, French publisher asks UK police to cease investigation. The move is likely to enrage unions and other opponents of the pension plan. Eight unions have organized protests since January in a rare voice of unity. When French voters went to the polls for the first round of the presidential election on April 23, 2017, Macron topped a field of 11 candidates, capturing 24 percent of the vote. She remained married to him until they divorced in 2006, and then married Macron in the fall of 2007. If the content contained herein violates any of your rights, including those of copyright, and/or violates any the above mentioned factors, you are requested to immediately notify us using via the following email address operanews-external(at)opera.com and/or report the article using the available reporting functionality built into our Platform The prime minister was interrupted while visiting a supermarket outside Paris by a group of people chanting, We dont want it, referring to the way she skirted the vote by lawmakers to advance the pension reform. (Step son) Emmanuel Macron Wife. In the runoff, held on April 24, Macron secured a second term with more than 58 percent of the vote. That election saw another record low turnout: just one-third of all eligible voters went to the polls. France is our oldest ally and a key partner in addressing global challenges. Protesters, along with political opponents, have vowed to keep fighting the changes and exploring avenues to have it wound back. On 22 June 1974, Brigitte got married to the banker Andr-Louis Auzire, and they had three children. Macron was born in December 1977 and his wife was . In spite of his administrations largely effective response to the pandemic, Macrons approval rating consistently hovered around 40 percent, and his low polling numbers were reflected in the results of the 2021 regional elections. (Onward) political movement. By Reuters. France's Constitutional Council on Friday approved President Emmanuel Macron 's controversial raising of the retirement age, as nationwide protests rumbled on. [Before], people were hired in an enterprise and if the job was good, they climbed the ladder, and they could obtain a higher position in the company. All eyes were on the heavily guarded Constitutional Council, which could have nixed all or parts of the complex pension reform plan that Macron pushed through without a vote by the lower house of parliament. People watch Macrons TV interview from a bar in Toulouse, south-western France. Emmanuel Macron is currently 42 years old. PRESIDENTIAL 2022. As at that time, Brigitte was married toAndr-Louis Auzire. His wife, the first Lady of France, Brigitte Macron, on the other hand was born on the 13th of April 1953 and tgat makes her 67 years. Carl Pfeiffer, a 62-year-old retiree protesting outside City Hall, warned that the Constitutional Councils decision wont spell the end of tensions. Notably, Macron was also the only prominent pro-European Union candidate in a race that carried a strong undercurrent of Euroskepticism. Indeed, the latter had three children with her ex-husband, Andr-Louis Auzire: Laurence, Tiphaine and Sbastien. In September 2008 he joined Rothschild & Cie Banque, the French division of the international Rothschild financial group, as an investment banker. Macron, in February, according to the Associated Press. However, the proposal didn't succeed due to a petition against it that garnered 275,000 signatures. hide caption. Subscribe to Heres the Deal, our politics Four years later he bought out his government contract for 50,000 (approximately $70,000) to enter the private sector, a move that friends warned would jeopardize any future political ambitions. April 15, 2023, 2:30 AM PDT / Source: Reuters. He accused opponents of not coming up with a single compromise solution except that it be dropped entirely. Jeffrey Schaeffer, Associated Press. Valls resigned as prime minister and declared his candidacy, but the Socialists selected Benot Hamon, a political outsider from the partys far left wing, as their nominee. The trash piles were cleaned up but signaled the start of a new strike by garbage collectors, timed to begin with the nationwide protest marches. French President Emmanuel Macron has signed into law his government's highly unpopular pension reforms, which raise the state pension age from 62 to 64. Corrections? "The president's remarks are very much awaited" and will both seek to appease tensions in the country and explain decisions that have been made in the past months regarding the pension reform, government spokesperson Veran said. When they first met, Macron was a 15-year-old student at the Jesuit high school where Brigitte taught. Emmanuel Macron Wiki, Age, Height, Wife, Family, Biography & More. Opera News is a free to use platform and the views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent, reflect or express the views of Opera News. Brigitte ended her career as a Literature teacher at a prestigious private high school called Lyce Saint-Louis-de-Ginzague, in Paris in 2015 to support her husband's political career. Macron became the face of France at international summits, and in 2014 he was elevated to finance minister. hide caption. The council decision caps months of tumultuous debates in parliament and fervor in the streets. Macron has long talked about raising it because of the country's demographic changes: There are more and more older people and comparatively fewer workers to fund the government pension. NPR reported prior to the election, The mainstream left and right has all but disappeared.. Older Americans are increasingly unwilling or unable to retire, America, we have a problem. hide caption. Michel Euler/AP CGT has been a backbone of the protest and strike movementchallenging Macrons planto increase Frances retirement age from 62 to 64. The leftist CGT union said Friday it had filed more precise observations with the council. Opera News furthermore does not condone the use of our platform for the purposes encouraging/endorsing hate speech, violation of human rights and/or utterances of a defamatory nature. The governments decision to skirt a parliamentary vote by using special constitutional powers transformed opponents anger into fury. Although more than 25 million people in France contracted COVID-19, the potentially deadly disease caused by the virus, the countrys high rate of vaccination and its robust jobs retention scheme spared France from the high death rates and lingering unemployment that were evident elsewhere. The government argued that the reform is needed to keep the pension system afloat as the population ages; opponents proposed raising taxes on the wealthy or employers instead, and said the changes threaten a hard-won social safety net. Opera News does not consent to nor does it condone the posting of any content that violates the rights (including the copyrights) of any third party, nor content that may malign, inter alia, any religion, ethnic group, organization, gender, company, or individual. I look forward to our continued close cooperation including on supporting Ukraine, defending democracy, and countering climate change. En Marche! Bicycles burn during a protest outside the Paris City Hall on Friday, the day France's Constitutional Council approved an unpopular plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64. After the comparative instability of governments of the Fourth Republic (194658), Article 49.3 was one of the measures included in the constitution of the Fifth Republic (1958 ) to ensure the primacy of the president. . While Le Pen drew from the far right and Mlenchon from the far left, Macrons centrist antiestablishment message found support from a broad cross section of the populace. Content created and supplied by: Etrends (via Opera Never give up, thats my motto, he said on Friday before the Constitutional Council verdict, as he visited Notre-Dame on the anniversary of a fire that gutted the celebrated Paris cathedral. window.__mirage2 = {petok:"Ru7dWfsWaJDLPYt6S8LV5WEpNobg.vV9Ls975SFiVWM-3600-0"}; Fillon had been marked as the likely front-runner in the presidential race, but his campaign imploded amid accusations that he had created fake jobs for members of his family and had improperly accepted tens of thousands of euros in gifts. The doors of the Elysee (presidential palace) will remain open, without condition, for this dialogue, Macrons office said. French President Emmanuel Macron's unpopular plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 was enacted into law Saturday. Just days before that event, hackers uploaded tens of thousands of internal Macron campaign communications to the Internet in an apparent attempt to influence the election. Bill Clinton in the United States and Prime Minister Tony Blair in Britain, Macron proposed a centre-left fusion of populism and neoliberalism. The mobilization is far from over, the leader of the leftist CGT union, Sophie Binet, said at a trash incineration site south of Paris where several hundred protesters blocked garbage trucks. Unions have vowed to continue protest actions in an attempt to get Macron to simply withdraw the measure. Macrons agenda had included curbs on government spendinghe famously quipped that there was no magic money to spend on services without a corresponding increase in government revenuesbut he was forced to put aside these measures when his administration was faced with the greatest global public health challenge in a century. What France's revolt over raising the retirement age says about the attitude to work, France's government survives no-confidence votes as pension reforms move ahead. She has been his French Literature teacher. News ), Opera News is a free to use platform and the views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent, reflect or express the views of Opera News. After weeks of protests against the bill that not only raises the retirement age but requires workers to progressively contribute for longer to receive a full pension, the French government made an already volatile situation worse last week when it used a constitutional tool called the 49:3 to bypass a vote by MPs. Emmanuel Macron vows to step up welfare reforms if re-elected This article is more than 1 year old French president aims to raise pension age and continue cutting taxes for businesses and households Does he have any children? Emmanuel Macron, second from left, chairs his first cabinet meeting after the summer break. Macron made pension reform a pillar of his successful 2017 election campaign but legislation was halted during the Covid crisis and successive lockdowns. Download Opera News APP, By Etrends (self media writer) | 2 years ago. French President Emmanuel Macron has signed into law a bill to raise the state pension age that sparked mass protest, the government's . Last modified on Thu 30 Mar 2023 05.32 EDT. That legislation had been pushed through parliament without a vote and given the green light by the Constitutional Council only to be later scrapped to bring calm to the country. She gave an interview with a French radio station in 2019 and said, It took me a while to realize what was happening, and then to make the leap and become his wife.. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. Unions have been the organizers of 12 nationwide protests since January and have a critical role in trying to tamp down excessive reactions by protesters. Macron advanced quickly at the company, and in 2012 he brokered Nestls blockbuster $12 billion acquisition of Pfizers baby food division. The centrist president, who made raising the retirement age a priority of his second term, plans to make a televised national address on Monday evening, Macron's office said. Another group awaited Borne in the parking lot. He attended a private lyce (secondary school) in Amiens, where he proved to be an exceptionally gifted student. Macron can enact the bill within 15 days. "There are times in your life . A protestor holds a sign reading "Who sow misery, harvest anger" during a demonstration in Nantes on March 18. Macron was born in December 1977 and his wife was born in April 1953, so there's a 24-year-age difference. The legislation, which will progressively push up the age for drawing a state pension to 64 from 62, is deeply unpopular and protests immediately broke out when the Constitutional Councils decision was announced. The authorized changes will start being implemented in September. [CDATA[ See More. France's Constitutional Council on Friday approved an unpopular plan to raise the retirement age to 64, in a victory for President Emmanuel Macron after three months of mass protests over the . Also before the main march, more than 100 railroad workers marched down a Paris street of luxury boutiques, invading luxury conglomerate LVMH offices and going to the first floor before exiting. Trade unions on Friday called on the government not to enact the legislation, despite the green light from the Constitutional Council, and urged workers to turn out in force for marches on Labour Day on May 1. Linah Mohammad contributed to this report. Macron experienced a brief surge in popularity in April 2019, when a fire seriously damaged Notre-Dame Cathedral and he launched a fundraising campaign that brought in hundreds of millions of dollars for the repair and rebuilding of the iconic Paris landmark.