French president gives up his pension to halt strikes

Macron tries to win over public opinion in face of mounting protests as strikes enter third week

EMMANUEL MACRON has said he will forgo the pension normally received by former French presidents.

The announcement came yesterday as strikes over his pension reforms brought a third week of transport chaos in the French capital.

Mr Macron’s gesture is aimed at winning over public opinion as he faces what is becoming one of the most serious crises of his presidency.

He will not claim the €6,220 (£5,300) monthly pension former French presidents are entitled to receive for life as soon as they leave office.

The decision could end special pension privileges enjoyed by French presidents since 1955.

The Elysée Palace announced the move as Mr Macron, 42, visited French troops fighting Islamist militants in west Africa and held talks with local leaders. “We are in an era when politicians must be exemplary,” an aide said.

“The president’s pension arrangements will be brought into line with other people’s under the universal system we are introducing. That’s what will determine how much he gets.”

Retired civil servants receive an average of €2,572 a month compared with €1,784 for private-sector workers, who don’t have special pension schemes.

Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, said French people did not want to see politicians benefiting from special privileges. “Elected representatives and ministers are going to be treated just like all French people,” he said.

But Jean-luc Mélenchon, the farleft leader, said: “Macron can afford this. It’s just demagoguery. He and his advisers thought it would be a good announcement to make.

“The feeling of exasperation is general. We’re approaching a social collapse.”

Only half of France’s high-speed TGV trains are running, and only a third of its intercity services.

Opinion polls indicate majority backing for the strikes. Although more than 50 per cent of people also acknowledge that France’s convoluted pension system needs overhauling, they do not trust the Macron government to do so fairly and efficiently.

Hélène Roche, 36, delayed for hours with her husband and young son at the Gare de Lyon railway station, cast doubt on the polls. “Strikes are a French tradition and people feel obliged to say they support them,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “I know a lot of people who are very angry. I’m being forced to spend only two days with my father instead of four this Christmas.”

Rail and public-sector workers are resisting the abolition of concessions allowing them to retire in their fifties. Private-sector employees oppose a plan to raise their retirement age from 62 to 64.

Paris shops, hotels and restaurants are suffering as tourists cancel trips.