New strikes and protests against pension reforms in France Dangerous cracks discovered in the “doomsday glacier”.

In France, tens of thousands took to the streets again on Thursday against the planned pension reform. There were demonstrations in cities such as Marseille, Rennes and Bordeaux. People laid off their jobs at airports, in the energy sector and on the railways.

The central government under President Emmanuel Macron wants to gradually increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. The unions find this brutal and unfair.

According to official figures from the Ministry of the Interior, more than a million people have been on the streets in recent days. The unions even spoke of more than two million. As there are currently school holidays in many French regions, lower participation was generally expected on Thursday.

The retirement age is currently 62 years. In fact, retirement starts later on average: those who have not paid in long enough to be entitled to a full pension continue to work longer. At the age of 67, there is a pension without deduction, regardless of the payment period – the government wants to keep this, even if the number of payment years required for a full pension increases faster. She wants to increase the monthly minimum pension to around 1,200 euros.

The pension reform is considered one of Macron’s central projects. France’s leftist camp and right-wing nationalists oppose it. The government hopes to get them through parliament with the votes of the conservative Républicains. But there is still no majority.

The government suffered its first setback on Wednesday evening when a majority of members of the National Assembly voted against an article of the reform. Most Republicans also voted against. This does not mean that they will vote against the whole project.

The National Assembly as lower house has until Saturday evening to deliberate. With over 20,000 amendments tabled, it is unlikely that MEPs will complete the scrutiny. Now a number of motions must be withdrawn in order to discuss at least the core. After the deadline, the project goes to the Senate, the second chamber of parliament, in an accelerated procedure – with or without a preliminary vote in the National Assembly. (sda/dpa)