Macron pushes through his controversial pension reform without a vote

France's government pushed the controversial pension reform through parliament without a final vote. She decided on Thursday to implement President Emmanuel Macron's most important reform project without a vote in the National Assembly.

Shortly before Thursday's scheduled vote in the National Assembly, a hastily convened Council of Ministers gave the go-ahead for the application of Article 49.3 of the Constitution. This article allows a law to be passed without a parliamentary vote – unless a motion of no confidence tabled thereafter against the government is approved. This application must be submitted within twenty-four hours. The opposition criticized Macron's "brutal actions".

France's Senate had previously approved the government's pension reform. In the morning, 193 senators voted in favor of the text, 114 voted against, and 38 abstained. The vote in the National Assembly was scheduled for the afternoon. To the end, the government could not be sure of getting a majority for what is probably its most important project.

Currently, the retirement age in France is 62 years. In fact, retirement begins later on average: those who have not paid in long enough to receive a full pension work longer. At the age of 67 there is then a pension without any deductions, regardless of how long it has been paid in – the government wants to keep this, even if the number of years required to pay in for a full pension is to increase more quickly.

The government wants to increase the monthly minimum pension to around 1,200 euros. With the reform, she wants to take action against impending holes in the pension fund.

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