The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, has defended that the pension reform being finalized by his government is «fair and responsible» and has warned that, in Europe as a whole, the country is «behind» in this matter.
Macron, who has appeared before the media with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, sees «legitimate» that all opinions are expressed and trusts that the union demonstrations called this Thursday in France –more than 200– will pass without incident.
Looking to the future, he promised to act in a «spirit of dialogue», but also with «determination» and «responsibility», which is why he is keeping on the table a reform that foresees raising the legal retirement age to 64 and extending the contribution period for receiving the maximum pension to 43 years.
In this sense, he has suggested that he has the backing of the ballot boxes, both for the presidential elections in which he won and for the subsequent parliamentary elections, in which the parties that support him won, despite not having an absolute majority in the National Assembly.
The French Council of Ministers plans to approve the project next week, but Macron has advanced that all parties will be able to express themselves and try to «enrich» the text in the subsequent phase of debate.
He did want to emphasize that «saving» the system requires a thorough reform, taking into account intergenerational «solidarity» and the fact that there are fewer and fewer active workers to support the growing mass of pensioners.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)