Oct 21 (Reuters) - Following are editorial comments from leading French newspapers on Thursday on the latest developments in the battle between the government and unions over pension reform.
LES ECHOS (business daily) -
We have suffered for 10 years from a lack of growth which is keeping down employment activity, especially among the under 25s and the over 55s. The pension reform is being rejected because the country is stuck in the mindset that there is "no future". It's only by tackling this "no future" syndrome that we can suceed with this necessary reform, as well as all the others: fiscal, education, political etc.
LIBERATION (left-wing) -
This is all being driven by people feeling that in the wake of the financial crisis nothing really significant will change. The discontent was there before, and it goes deeper. Those demonstrating today have understood that the road to adulthood is full of pitfalls. Once the pension reform is passed, their revolt will become a major issue for the next presidential term.
LE FIGARO (conservative) -
Amazement (abroad) is growing over seeing the French so little aware of reality. The crisis is hitting everywhere, leaving people destitute by the thousand, and forcing governments to impose tough medicine. Yesterday, it was Britain's turn. But nowhere, except in Greece, have these drastic plans sparked such extreme reactions as here.
Our exception surely lives in the age-old incapacity of the French elite to develop an understanding of change. The French take for granted a social model built after the war which they don't like to see thrown into question.
OUEST FRANCE (regional daily) -
France is under observation, and on several levels. The economic world is the first to scrutinise the evolution of the French debate. Two centuries ago, barricades worried Europe's royal courts. Today they can send trading rooms into a panic.
The European political sphere is no less attentive to the French crisis. In Dublin, Lisbon or Athens, governments have been, or are, obliged to make their citizens swallow bitter potions. Yesterday, it was Britain. France's management of this crisis is being watched closely. (Reporting by Catherine Bremer)