Reporting from Paris — The French Senate passed a hotly contested pension revision Friday night, providing a victory for President Nicolas Sarkozy and setting the stage for expected final passage by both houses of Parliament next week.
Sarkozy’s major policy initiative, which would push back the minimum legal retirement age from 60 to 62, passed by a vote of 177 to 153 with the backing of the conservative majority and some centrists.
Friday’s vote was accelerated by a government anxious to put a lid on weeks of strikes and sometimes-violent protests against the change in pension rules. Opposition Socialist Party members and other left-wing lawmakers voted against the bill.
The measure also gradually delays the age for receiving a full pension from 65 to 67, as part of a complex set of measures aimed at saving an indebted pension system aggravated by the global economic crisis.
“This is a solemn moment” of “responsibility and courage,” said Labor Minister Eric Woerth after Friday’s debate.
Full story: France pension bill strike: French Senate passes hotly contested pension revision – latimes.com