France: Even the accumulated garbage does not stop the pension scheme

PARIS (AP) — A controversial bill to raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 received a boost with the passage of the measure by the French Senate despite labor strikes, street protests and the tons of uncollected trash that accumulate daily.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne tweeted on Saturday evening after the 195-112 vote that she expected final approval of the bill to “secure the future of our pension system”.

President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal, which carries risks for the government, must now navigate tricky political territory with multiple potential outcomes.

Borne called a meeting on Sunday evening and ordered ministers to seek consensus among lawmakers in the coming days.

The government hopes not to have to resort to a special constitutional option which would force the approval of the pension reform without having to submit it to a vote. Borne has used this mechanism 10 times before, and invoking it on the politically sensitive issue of retirement could trigger a vote of no confidence.

Government spokesman Olivier Veran stressed after the meeting that the government was trying to avoid using the constitutional option. But when asked, he added: “We will not give up on our pension reform.”

In the face of union opposition to the bill, trash is piling up in Paris and other cities with trash collection service workers on strike. Services in other sectors, such as energy and transport, were also affected, although they improved.

Paris City Hall said that until Sunday some 5,400 tonnes of garbage had piled up in the streets of the French capital, including in front of the building where the Senate sits. The stench of rotting fish and other food wafted in the wind, especially around some restaurants.

TV news channel CNews quoted Colombe Brossel, sanitation manager at Paris City Hall, as saying the problem is mainly due to the suspension of incinerators.

The problem may not be fixed anytime soon. Unions are planning new strikes and an eighth round of protests across the country on Wednesday, the day the pensions bill will be considered by a committee of seven senators and seven lower house lawmakers.

The joint commission is responsible for finding a point of agreement between the versions of the law of the Senate and the National Assembly.

Parliamentary approval would lend legitimacy to the pension plan, so the government hopes to refrain from invoking its special constitutional power to pass the bill.

But multiple scenarios exist before the proposal becomes law, making its path uncertain.

If the parliamentary committee reaches an agreement on Wednesday, the approved document will be put to a vote the following day in the Senate and the National Assembly. However, the outcome in the National Assembly, where Macron’s centrist alliance lost its majority last year, is hard to predict.

If the committee fails to reach an agreement, the bill will likely return to the National Assembly for further debate and another vote, then be considered by the Senate before returning to the Assembly.

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Masha Macpherson and Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report.