Pension reform bill passes in France's National Assembly

France's National Assembly passed a controversial bill on Wednesday on raising the minimum retirement age to 62, while protests took place on the streets of Paris and in parliament. The speaker of the house halted the debate after opposition lawmakers tried to filibuster a delay, prompting cries of "Resign!" from Socialist deputies.

Reuters

Meanwhile, several thousand protesters gathered across the Seine river in front of the National Assembly, threatening yet another nationwide strike.

Supporters say that the bill, pushed by President Nicolas Sarkozy's UMP party and which would raise the retirement age to 62 by 2018, could save 70 billion euros and aid the national economy. The bill will next go before the Senate on 23 September-- the same day unions have called for another one-day strike.

Trade unions staged a one-day strike last week on 7 September, as between one and three million people throughout France came out in support of the unions.

They claim that workers are forced to deal with cutting the deficit, instead of putting pressure on banks, bankers' bonuses and the upper class.

While France has a public deficit of about eight per cent GDP, some five points above the eurozone target of three per cent, its current retirement age, 60, is well below the average age of 64 in the OECD group of wealthy democracies.

Polls indicate that most people are in favour of the Socialists' stance but believe that a change in the retirement age is inevitable, especially since France has one of the world's longest life expectancies.