Chirac drops youth jobs law
Chirac drops youth jobs law
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Monday, 10, Apr 2006 11:49
Following violent protests over the last few weeks, French president Jacques Chirac has succumbed to pressure and axed a controversial jobs law.
Mr Chirac has scrapped the first employment contract (CPE) that has led to national strikes and scuffles with police across numerous French cities and will replace it with a new set of reforms.
The CPE would have allowed French firms to fire workers under 26 without a prior reason during their first two years of employment and the government viewed it as a vital tool in reducing unemployment, which stands at 22.2 per cent among the young.
But following massive discontent among the country's youth - exemplified by scenes broadcast around the world of riot police fighting students in Paris last month - Mr Chirac and his underfire prime minister, Dominique de Villepin, have backed down and removed the controversial measure from a new equal opportunities law.
"I suggested to the president that article eight of the law [proposing the CPE] should be replaced with measures in favour of young people in difficulty," Mr de Villepin said in a televised address this morning.
"This law will be presented to the areas concerned later today."
He added that he regretted that the purpose of the CPE had not been "understood by everybody", saying that its aim was to "give everybody his or her place in society".
Mr de Villepin has been meeting with union leaders ahead of today's announcement, but it remains to be seen whether they will be satisfied with the government's apparent compromise.
The CPE was enshrined in law on April 3rd, but amendments to the original act are now likely to be put forward.