France's contested pension reform bill headed for parliamentary debate

Demonstrators in Paris during nationwide strikes and protests against the pension reform on Tuesday, one holding a sign reading "My Pension, My Fight". During the protests, a National Assembly commission was examining the proposed legislation and 7,000 amendments proposed by the opposition. © Jean Francois Badias/AP

A French parliamentary commission ended its examination of the government’s contested pension reform bill on Wednesday evening without having reached the end of the text because of thousands of proposed amendments. The original text is to be debated in the full chamber starting Monday.

The members of the Social Affairs commission had been meeting since Monday morning to examine the government’s proposed pension reform and the 7,000 amendments proposed by the opposition.