French PM to meet opposition leaders

PARIS: French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told AFP on Sunday she would meet opposition leaders early next month and was open to talks with unions, after weeks of protests against pensions reforms.

She also said she would not make further use of the controversial mechanism that allowed her to force through the unpopular reforms without a parliamentary vote, outside of budget matters.

Borne spoke to AFP ahead of another day of action on Tuesday organised by unions to protest the reforms to pensions, which include raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. Stressing that she was open to talks with all social partners, she added: “We have to find the right path... We need to calm down.”

The protest movement against the pension reform has turned into the biggest domestic crisis of Macron´s second mandate, with police and protesters clashing daily in Paris and other cities over the past week. Jean-Luc Melenchon, a former presidential candidate for the hard-left France Unbowed party, called Sunday for the pension reforms to be withdrawn and for Borne to go.