"Emmanuel Macron has performed a humiliating U-turn and agreed to suspend his pension reform in order to avoid another collapsed government - his surrender will ultimately harm France, says John Lichfield. A French economist won a share of the Nobel Prize this week for his work on creative destruction. The country has chosen another path - destructive immobilism. In 2023 Macron won a pensions victory on behalf of the French people but against the will of the French people."
"He imposed a modest and muddled reform of the pension system, gradually increasing the state pension age to 64 by 2030. Almost all of France's neighbours already have a pension age of at least 67. The supposedly self-financing French state retirement system, hugely subsidised from other taxes, is a growing burden on the active economy and the young. So is the French insistence on studying late and retiring early."
Emmanuel Macron suspended the 2023 pension reform to avert a collapsed government and a potentially destabilising parliamentary election. The 2023 measure had raised the state pension age gradually to 64 by 2030, while most neighbouring countries set retirement ages at least at 67. The French pay-as-you-go retirement system remains heavily subsidised and increasingly burdens the active workforce and younger generations. Strong opposition from unions and about 80 percent of the population forced concessions. Macron ceded to the Socialist swing group and froze the retirement age at 62 years and nine months, prompting a new conference to seek alternatives.
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