French President Emmanuel Macron will address the country on Wednesday in a much-anticipated television interview, aimed at appeasing the anger against his pension reform adopted by force and explaining how he intends to overcome this crisis without changing his government or turning to voters.
12:44
Primary school teachers plan to strike
Some 40 to 50% of primary school teachers will strike on Thursday during a national day of union mobilisation, according to the Snuipp-FSU, the union for primary schools in France.
12:30
Brest port blocked by dockers’ strike
The port of Brest and Saint-Nazare bridge in Brittany have been blocked since 6am this morning by dockers.
“There are no entries or exits for trucks”, explained Sebastien Leon, representative for the French CGT union for port workers in Brest.
12:19
Fake news spreading about rubbish collection
Opposed to French President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform, rubbish collectors in the capital are on strike and some are even blocking access to waste incinerators.
As up to 10,000 tonnes of rubbish littered the streets of the Parisian capital last week, fake news has been spreading on social media regarding the military being requisitioned to pick up the garbage.
The French Gendarmerie were quick to deny this. In a tweet, the branch of the Armed Forces said it was a “localised initiative. They are simply Republican guards in uniform who are picking up waste for sanitary reasons and – above all – safety near their barracks. End of story.”
Read more at our story here,
Did Paris requisition military to clean up the piles of trash?
11:59
Situation assessment in the country, one hour prior to Macron’s interview
Along with fuel depots being blocked south of the country, the port of Marseille, one of France’s most important exchange hubs, has been totally blocked.
Some motorways have also been blocked across the country.
11:42
The crowd is not “legitimate” for Macron
President Macron’s remarks to the government MPs aroused anger and incomprehension among citizens mobilised against the pension reform. During a reception at the Elysée on Tuesday evening Macron stated that “the crowd, whatever it is, has no legitimacy in the face of the people who express themselves sovereignly through their elected representatives”.
As the French take to the streets to protest against Macron’s pension reform, 70 percent of respondents said they are dissatisfied with the president, according to the IFOP barometer.
11:26
How do other European countries compare in terms of retirement?
As the French government is pushing for its own pension reform, have a read here on how it compares with other European countries:
Which countries have the lowest and highest retirement ages in Europe?
11:19
Unions are changing tactics
Earlier this morning, one of the national union invaded a supermarket in Montreuil, Paris. A little more than a hundred protesters joined. “We want to make a mess until they withdraw the pension reform”, one of them said.
11:04
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What to know about France’s nationwide strike over pension reform
Who is protesting? What does the pension reform entails? How are the strikes impacting the country? Read more about it here:
What to know about France’s nationwide strike over pension reform
10:53
Protesters blocked entry to Marseille on the A55 on Wednesday morning.
Pallet fires set by opponents of pension reform led to the closure of the A55 motorway in one direction in Marseille, causing traffic problems entering France’s second largest city, an AFP journalist noted.
10:32
France pension reform: Can parliament be overridden elsewhere in Europe?
Following the use of the article 49.3 to bypass the French parliament and push through its controversial pension reform bill, Euronews looked to see if this could be the case elsewhere in Europe. Read more our story here:
France pension reform: Where in Europe can parliament be bypassed?
