23/10/2010 11:40
French Senate approves pension changes
The French Senate last night approved President Nicolas Sarkozy’s controversial pension reform, but trade unions vowed to maintain their campaign with further strikes and protests.
After a long and acrimonious debate, which the government hastened to an end by invoking a rarely used constitutional clause, the upper house adopted the pensions Bill by 177 votes to 153, Interfax reported.
The draft law, which raises the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, is now likely to be definitively adopted by parliament early next week.