October 2019

28Oct

France. Macron vows to push pension reform ‘to the end’ despite strikes

French President Emmanuel Macron vowed no let up in his drive to implement far-reaching pension reforms despite a looming winter of strikes by unions angered by the plan, in an interview broadcast on Monday. Macron told RTL radio that there would be "no complacency or weakness" in pushing through the changes, even if it risked making him more unpopular. "I want this reform to go to the end, I think it is necessary for the country so I will...

October 28, 2019
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04Oct

France. Macron seeks to placate French over pension reforms

French President Emmanuel Macron sought to ease fears over his controversial pension reform Thursday in a debate with concerned citizens over the plan that has sparked protests by train drivers, pilots, lawyers, doctors and police. Macron’s move to modernise France’s retirement system is part of an election pledge to put the country on a solid financial footing — a mission that calls for painful changes in a country where many people have seen their spending power decline. Macron’s government...

October 4, 2019
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September 2019

18Sep

France. How Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms could paralyse his presidency

Last Friday, the Paris transport system came to a standstill. Employees at RATP, the company that runs the metro and bus lines as well as suburban RER trains, launched the biggest French strike for more than a decade: between 60 and 98 per cent of the workforce took action, according to trade unions. With ten metro lines completely closed and buses, trams and RER trains scarcely running, the strike wreaked havoc on Paris streets. People resorted to cars to...

September 18, 2019
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17Sep

France. Lawyers, doctors, nurses protest pension changes

Thousands of French professionals, including lawyers and doctors, took to the streets of Paris Monday in the latest protest against the government's planned pension changes. The protest saw lawyers, doctors, nurses and others in regulated professions vent their displeasure at the proposed changes that President Emmanuel Macron's government says will simplify France's convoluted pensions system. The government has promised the legal retirement age of 62 won't change, but new conditions may encourage people to work longer. A large majority...

September 17, 2019
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13Sep

France. Paris traffic gridlock as metro workers strike over pension reform

Paris metro workers walked off the job Friday over plans for a major overhaul of the pension system, sparking huge traffic jams as commuters scrambled to find other ways of getting to work. Ten of the city's 16 metro lines were shut down completely, while service on most others was "extremely disrupted," the city's RATP transit operator said. Massive crowds waited on the platforms of the two automated driverless lines still operating and officials counted nearly 300 kilometres (185...

September 13, 2019
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July 2019

19Jul

Macron to trigger French pensioners crisis as he calls for French to work more

The reform is potentially explosive, with unions having traditionally sent millions of people onto the streets to protest against previous changes to pensions. Mr Macron has been hit by wave after wave of angry, and often violent, protests in the past year. Beginning last November, Gilets Jaunes protestors have shut down major French cities in protest over tax reform and other deeper issues in the country, such as class division. Read more @Express

July 19, 2019
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June 2019

13Jun

France. Macron to Tackle French State Pensions in Mother-of-All-Reforms

France isn’t done with reforms. That’s the core message Prime Minister Edouard Philippe aimed to get across in Parliament Wednesday. “We have reasons to be proud of the work we’ve done and we have the legitimacy to keep going,” Philippe said in a 66-minute speech laying out what he called “Act II” of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency. “We’ve done a lot in the past two years and we need to do a lot more," he added. "Our enemy is the...

June 13, 2019
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May 2019

08May

French insurance sector pension fund announces investment in Scientific Beta low carbon multi-factor indices

Scientific Beta, the smart beta index provider, and SACRA, a pension fund for the French insurance sector, have announced the launch of two low carbon multi-factor indices for the US and Eurozone regions. This move comes as part of SACRA's reorganisation of the management of its equity portfolio. The US equity portfolio, and part of the Eurozone equity allocation, are now invested to track the two multi-factor indices from Scientific Beta. In addition to seeking higher long-term financial returns...

May 8, 2019
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02May

France. Macron still faces a battle to fund his ageing nation

The problem of an ageing population and how to fund pensions and dependency care that has bedevilled previous governments has now landed in President Macron’s lap. It has been estimated that these costs will double in the next 20 years as people live longer and need more support. France has fewer people in work and more and more over-60s – especially over-75-year-olds – needing care. Costs are rising too, as longer lives do not necessarily mean extended healthy lives....

May 2, 2019
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April 2019

26Apr

France. Macron to cut taxes and raising pensions but matching with spending cuts

French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered that further cuts to income tax must be matched euro-for-euro by cuts in public spending to keep the budget deficit from spiralling out of control, his finance minister said on Friday. In his response to months of anti-government protests, Macron said late on Thursday that he would cut income tax further by 5 billion euros (£4.3 billion). "The president has set a principle of which I am the guarantor: each euro of decrease in income...

April 26, 2019
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