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
President of France proto-canon of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. The current President of France is Emmanuel Macron, who succeeded François Hollande on 14 May 2017. The presidency of France was first publicly proposed during the July Revolution of 1830, when it was offered to the Marquis de Lafayette, who demurred in favor of Prince Louis Phillipe. 18 years later, during the opening phases of the 2nd Republic, the title was created for a popularly elected Head of state, the first of whom was Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, nephew of the Emperor. Bonaparte served until he staged an auto coup against the