“Tell me where you come from, I will tell you at what age you will retire”. While the pension reform, a bill carried by Emmanuel Macron, continues to divide opinion, general mobilization is more important than ever in France. After a first day of strike on Tuesday January 19, the unions have not said their last word against the government.
Two weeks later, on Tuesday January 31, the second day of protests escalated. Across France, demonstrators armed with their signs took to the streets to denounce the pension reform plan. A social movement bringing together more than 2.5 million people according to union figures, against 1.27 million people according to the Ministry of the Interior. Especially since this great mobilization is also scrutinized abroad.
From Europe to America, or even Asia, foreign media send their correspondent to cover each event in France. Of course yes, it is well known that “the refractory Gauls” are famous for their aggressiveness and their rebellious spirit to defend the retreat! However, some foreign countries are struggling to understand why the French reject the government’s reform project so much.
While France wants to raise the legal retirement age from 62 to 64, what about our European neighbors? As the site la-retraite-en-clair indicates, the retirement age is mostly higher in several countries: 65 years in Belgium and Spain, 64 to 65 years in Switzerland, 66 years and 6 months in Portugal, and up to 67 in Italy (and soon in Germany by 2027).
As in France, the foreign media have not lost their sense of humor and the art of caricature to comment on the news. Here is a selection of several press cartoons to discover in our slideshow.
