Article, 20101026, "French Senate Approves Pansion Change Amid Protests", contributed by Kyung Jin Lee

French Senate Approves Pension Change Amid Protests

(October 22, 2010, The Wall Street Journal)

-Kyung Jin, Lee-

PARIS—France's Senate approved President Nicolas Sarkozy's unpopular state pension overhaul Friday, but the country remains gripped by fuel shortages, sporadic violence and continued industrial action arising from organized and ad-hoc antigovernment protests.

The legislation will now move back to the lower house, the national assembly, which Mr. Sarkozy's UMP conservative party and allies comfortably control.

But on the eve of the French school-vacation period that will be inconvenienced by long lines at those service stations fortunate enough to be stocked with fuel, a fresh poll showed more than two-thirds of the French population supports the continuing strike action against Mr. Sarkozy. And unions indicated Thursday that they don't intend to ease pressure on the government, as they called for yet another national strike and day of protest next Thursday and for a weekend protest on Nov. 6.

Riot police were deployed in force in France's third-largest city, Lyon, on Friday to contain continued, though diminished, violence from gangs of protesters who have been active this week, Agence France Press reported.

Meanwhile, as French riot police continued to break up blockades erected by union-backed protesters at fuel depots, French Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said the fuel supply is improving, although around 20% of the country's 12,300 service stations remain dry. As many as 40% of the service stations had been short of fuel at one point earlier this week.

After meeting with French oil-industry executives, Prime Minister François Fillon said it would take several more days to get fuel supplies back to normal. He ordered the nation's prefects, senior administrative officials in the regions, to take charge of replenishing service stations in their areas, in partnership with the oil companies to make sure supplies are being allocated efficiently and evenly.

Mr. Fillon had won the agreement of oil companies on Wednesday to share fuel supplies to right skewed distribution patterns. It wasn't immediately clear if Mr. Fillon is unhappy with the progress the oil industry is making in sorting out the supply problems.

Representatives of the French fuel-suppliers' association were reported by Agence France Press to have said after the oil-industry meeting with Mr. Fillon that it is taking longer than planned to reallocate motor fuels to service stations in need, and that they have set motorway service stations as their highest priority.

In his statement, Mr. Fillon said the western and eastern parts of France, along with the Paris region, are the hardest hit by supply disruptions. Mr. Fillon also said oil companies have committed to ensure crucial services are well supplied with fuel.

Earlier this week, the oil companies agreed to share fuel stocks to help right skewed distribution of gasoline and diesel fuel. There has been panic buying by French motorists, who have been draining service stations of fuel as quickly as the oil companies have been able to replenish forecourt tanks.

Ironically, as expected, a French appeals court Friday gave permission to French oil giant Total SA to shut down its oil-refining operations at a big facility near Dunkirk, to transform it into a storage and research facility because of refining overcapacity in Europe.

Senators, 177-153, passed the legislation, which among other things would raise the age when the French can receive state retirement benefits to 62 years old from 60. The legislation could become law by the end of the month, although that isn't likely to stop unions and others from extending their protests, which are now embracing other issues such as education and port reforms. Moreover, Mr. Sarkozy plans to embark on a potentially contentious overhaul of France's tax system in 2011, just one year before national elections in mid-2012.

The BVA market-research organization Friday published its latest poll, which showed France's tradition of public protest remains strong, with 69% of respondents polled in the past 48 hours saying they support the movement against the government's pension reform, despite all the inconveniences the action has caused. The poll showed that 52% of the French public even support the public-transport strikes.