美国国家公共电台 NPR--Macron uses special constitutional power to raise France's retirement age

Macron uses special constitutional power to raise France's retirement¹ age

Transcript²

NPR's Sacha Pfeiffer talks to the Wall Street Journal's Noemie Bisserbe about French President Emmanuel Macron's controversial move to raise the country's retirement age without a government vote.

SACHA PFEIFFER, HOST:

Big news in France. French President Emmanuel Macron will raise the retirement age in his country from 62 to 64. This is a very unpopular pension change, but the French government has decided³ to force it through without a vote, even though a vote had been scheduled for today. With us live is Noemie Bisserbe. She covers French politics and foreign policy at The Wall Street Journal. Hi, Noemie.

NOEMIE BISSERBE: Good morning.

PFEIFFER: Macron is able to do this by using a constitutional article that lets the government push through bills without a vote by part of its Parliament. Was this expected, or is this a curveball?

BISSERBE: So this was not totally unexpected, I would say. Macron no longer has a majority at the National Assembly, so he needed the support of the conservative party les Republicains to pass the overhaul⁴. And clearly, he wasn't confident he could get the support from all conservative lawmakers. So he didn't want to take a chance and just used this provision.

PFEIFFER: So this lets him avoid potential failure.

BISSERBE: Exactly.

PFEIFFER: The proposed change to the - just the proposal had been causing strikes for weeks, public transportation disrupted, garbage piling up. Now that it's going to be pushed through, what reaction are you hearing, even though I know it just happened recently?

BISSERBE: Well, I think that this move is going to give political ammunition⁵ to opposition⁶ parties who already often criticize Macron for what they say is a bit of an authoritarian⁷ approach. And also when Macron was reelected last year, he said he would do things differently this time around and that he would ditch his, at times, a bit top-down approach. And clearly, this is not what he's doing here.

PFEIFFER: You mentioned ammunition. I read that at least one French legislator is floating the idea of a no-confidence vote. Is that the kind of thing you expect to happen? And if so, is it likely, too, that he would lose that no confidence vote?

BISSERBE: So that's already happening. Opposition parties have said that they will retaliate⁸ with a no confidence - with no-confidence motions. And if they are successful, then it would force the government to resign. In such a case, Macron actually has said that he would dissolve the Parliament and called for new legislative⁹ elections. Again, it's really hard to say what will happen because much will depend on les Republicains, once again, the conservative party. And if they decide to back a no-confidence vote, that will make all the difference. But will they be willing to risk their seats? I mean, I'm not quite sure they will.

PFEIFFER: Other than a possible no-confidence vote, is there anything that could be done to block this, any appellate process? Or is it a done deal, the retirement age will be raised?

BISSERBE: Well, this move, using this special provision, is going to fuel more protests and is going to anger people even more. So he's going to - the battle with the streets is not - is clearly not over. So there is - unions are going to continue to fight to try to get the government to reverse course on that plan.

PFEIFFER: And in maybe about 20 seconds, can you tell us why does the government say it wants to raise the retirement age?

BISSERBE: Well, the government thinks that it's the only way to save our current pension system without raising taxes or increasing our country's debt.

PFEIFFER: Because it's an expensive system.

BISSERBE: Because it's an expensive system that is today running a deficit¹⁰ and that that deficit is going to increase.

PFEIFFER: That is Wall Street Journal reporter Noemie Bisserbe. She covers French politics. Thank you very much.

BISSERBE: Thank you.

1 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

5 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

8 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

9 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

10 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。