Sarkozy defies French pensions protestors

Opponents reacted angrily, with the opposition Socialists branding him a liar and unions warning of further action after Tuesday's strike disrupted transport, shut schools and brought more than a million into the streets.

“The main element of this reform is a new retirement age. This age will be gradually raised ... to reach 62 in 2018,” Sarkozy said in a statement. “There is no question of backtracking on this point.”

Sarkozy reiterated that he would include in the reform special exceptions for those who start work younger than 18 and for certain physically demanding jobs, in his first reaction to Tuesday's mass protests.

But Socialist spokesman Benoit Hamon said Sarkozy offered only “scant improvements”.

“The reform is one of lies,” Hamon told reporters, saying Sarkozy's proposed improvements to the bill were old pledges that he had lined up in anticipation of protests.

“Since the start of this business of pensions, the government has lied and the arguments it uses are lies,” Hamon said.

Sarkozy says the pensions system must be reformed as part of efforts to bring down France's high budget deficit. Unions and political opponents say his plan puts an unfair burden on workers.

Tuesday's protests drew 1.12 million people, according to the interior ministry: more than double that, according to unions, who have vowed further action if he does not bend.

“I am attentive to the concerns that have been expressed,” Sarkozy said, while insisting he would push on with the bill currently before parliament — the centrepiece of his reform agenda as he eyes re-election in 2012.

“It is an essential reform,” Sarkozy said. “There is no question of letting anyone distort the reform, because that would put in peril the rebalancing of our pensions system.”

Workers starting younger than 18 and making pensions contributions for the required number of years would still retire at 60 “or even sooner,” he said.

And he offered to broaden opportunities for workers in physical jobs to apply for earlier retirement.

Unions have vowed further action if Sarkozy does not rethink the reform, scheduling an afternoon meeting on Wednesday to decide their next move, as the opposition too raised the pressure.

“The government must start again from scratch with this reform, which is both unjust and ineffective,” the leader of the Socialists, Martine Aubry, told France 2 television.

The government says the reform can save 70 billion euros (US$90 billion) by 2030 at a time when France's public deficit, at around eight percent of GDP, is well above the eurozone target of 3 percent.

At 62, the minimum retirement age would still be well under the average of around 64 in the OECD group of wealthy democracies, despite France having one of the world's longest life expectancies.

But French workers also pay high social charges on their salaries, and on an hour-by-hour basis are among the world's most productive, the OECD says.

Sarkozy has been weakened by a summer of scandal and his personal approval rating — around 34 percent according to several polls — is at an all-time low, two years before the 2012 presidential election.

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