Another day of chaos in France ahead of key vote on pension reform

In France, opponents of President Emmanuel Macron's pension reforms staged an eighth round of strikes on Wednesday.

The action came as a joint committee of senators and lower house lawmakers were considering the controversial bill.

The latest move in the legislative process to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 is fueling political tensions and a key question: Will the law command a parliamentary majority?

Unions hope further demonstrations across the country will reinforce mass workers' opposition to the plan, promoted by Macron as central to his vision to make the French economy more competitive.

The meeting of seven senators and seven legislators from the National Assembly (Lower House) would try to reach an agreement on the final version of the text.

The Senate is expected to approve it on Thursday, as its conservative majority is in favor of raising the retirement age, but the situation in the National Assembly is much more complicated.

Macron's centrist alliance lost its majority in legislative elections last year, forcing the government to count on conservative votes to pass the bill.

Leftists and far-right lawmakers strongly oppose the measure.

The head of the conservative Republicans, Eric Ciotti, who himself has a seat in the National Assembly, told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that "the highest interest of the nation... commands us to vote for reform."

But Conservative lawmakers are divided and some are planning to vote against or abstain, making it difficult to predict the outcome in the Lower House.

With no guarantee of a majority, Macron's government is facing a dilemma: A vote Thursday afternoon in the National Assembly would give the bill more legitimacy if it passes, but there is a risk it could be rejected.

Another option would be to use a special constitutional power to force the bill through parliament without a vote. But such an unpopular move would cause immediate criticism from the political opposition and trade unions for the lack of democratic debate.