November 2007 strikes in France retire with full pension benefits after 37.5 years rather than 40 years. The Sarkozy administration claims the current pension system allows some public sector workers to retire as early as age 50. The government calculated the cost of these early-retirement benefits at $7 billion a year. President Nicolas Sarkozy felt that his victory in the 2007 presidential election gave him a mandate to carry out labour reforms, stating "I said before I was elected what I would do," and "we will do these reforms because they have to be done." He declared the strikes a test of political will. "I
Salaries of elected offices in France Salaries of elected offices in France In France, all elected positions rerceive salaries based on the civil service index, which was established on 1 July 2010, at 45,617.63 Euros per annum. From 2007 to 2012, the salary of the President of France was established by the National Assembly to €21194,52 per month. It consisted of a basic allowance of €15101.09, a housing allowance of €635.84, and a duty allowance of €5457.59. On May 17, 2012, the new Prime Minister of France Jean-Marc Ayrault presented a decree reducing by 30% the salary of President of the Republic, which now stands at