From the Prices Crisis to the Collapse of the Health System, 3 Files Put the French Government in Trouble in 2023
As 2023 begins, the French government is facing social issues that it must deal with, on top of which are high inflation rates, the pension fund, and the collapse of the health system.
The French government is threatened by labor protests against harsh working conditions, which demand wage increases to combat the consequences of skyrocketing inflation levels in the country, killing its people’s purchasing power.
This is in addition to the widespread collapse of the French health sector, which in turn is provoking the discontent of the public and those working in the sector.
On the other hand, President Macron insists on passing his reform of the pension fund, despite the unions’ rejection of it and their promise to disrupt it through a wave of strikes and strong protests.
Observers believe that these three files are enough to put the French government in a dilemma it must confront.
Inflation and Recession
Like other European countries, in light of the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine, France witnessed a meteoric rise in inflation levels during the last three quarters of 2022, reaching a threshold of 5.9% during the month of December. Observers expect inflation to continue rising in 2023.
According to estimates from January 2022, the prices of cooking oils in France increased by 60%, flour prices by 21.8%, vegetables and fruits by 17.7%, and white meat prices increased by 15.8%.
In addition to this recession, which threatens the country’s economy, according to the French central bank, the increase in GDP is expected to slow sharply, from 2.6% in 2022 to 0.3% in 2023, according to the “most likely” scenario of the general economic outlook for the next three years. This decline will be followed by a rebound to 1.2% in 2024, below the previously projected 1.8%.
This economic recession may reach 8%. It will be reflected socially, according to the same source, with a rise in unemployment rates,
These deteriorating economic conditions represent the most prominent challenge for Macron’s government, which puts it at risk of mass protests, in which workers have begun to declare their first strikes.
Pension Fund
In his New Year’s wishful speech, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed that 2023 “will be the year of implementing pension reform.”
“We need to work longer,” Macron said in his speech, referring to the reform clause to extend the retirement age, and stressed that the reform would be implemented by the end of the summer.
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne is expected to present the first draft of the reform bill at the ministerial meeting on January 10 before it enters the debate in parliament by February 23.
The reform sparked workers’ anger when it was introduced during President Macron’s first term in late 2019. Trade unions continue to reject it, seeing it as an infringement of their rights, especially with regard to the extension of the retirement age.
In a recent statement, the French Confederation of Labour called on them to start moving to invalidate the project, threatening the government with a wave of protests and strikes that could affect all sectors of labor.
Reforming France’s costly and complicated pension system was a key plank of Macron’s election platform when he came to power in 2017.
The longest continuous transport strikes since 1968 occurred in December 2019 and January 2020, and they were also for pension reform—in this case, the less contentious element of the legislation that did not involve pension age.
When the full terms of the change are revealed on January 10, unions and political opponents are expected to respond with major protests and strikes—the current polls indicate that over 70% of French people reject the reforms.
Health System
Added to these two hot issues is another file that is no less heated than the previous ones: France’s health system’s collapse. As the winter season approaches, when respiratory infections, including COVID-19, are on the rise, French hospitals are in disarray due to a shortage of staff and treatment capacity
According to testimonies from workers in the sector, health in France is experiencing an “acute and general crisis.” According to the Federation of French Hospitals president, Arnaud Robinet, the crisis “is not only a crisis of hospitals, but the collapse of the entire health system.
“It’s not just about the shortage of workers in the sector, but even about hospitals that are mired in debt with little investment,” the French official added.
At the same time, private-sector doctors announced the extension of their strike for an additional week, protesting their poor working conditions and demanding higher wages. In a statement on Monday, the French group Doctors for Tomorrow announced a protest march in Paris on January 10.
“We are undergoing a major, appalling crisis,” explained to Ouest-France, the emergency doctor Patrick Pelloux on December 23.
“Monday, in Saint-Denis, we made 250 emergency visits where in fact 150 per day on average, and 170 or 180 on Monday,” testified to Franceinfo Mathias Wargon, head of Smur emergencies at Delafontaine hospital in Saint-Denis, December 30.
The health system suffers from the use of contractors. “The problem is that these are not people who work in the service. So they are not used to organizing the service, everything takes longer, the care is less good, it’s deadly,” Wargon pointed out.
A collective of more than 5,000 doctors, caregivers, and hospital workers recently demanded a defined schedule and a maximum patient-to-nurse ratio. This would require hiring “about 100,000 nurses” over three years.
