President Francois Hollande sent to cabinet on Wednesday a reform of France's pension system which has prompted little street protest at home but which international critics say does not go far enough, reports Reuters.
Hollande has chosen to adapt the current system by raising slightly the level and duration of pension contributions rather than increasing the statutory pension age from 62 years as the European Commission recommended.
The Brussels-based executive arm of the European Union wants France to commit to ambitious structural reforms in return for its decision this year to grant Paris a further two years to rein in its public deficit below three percent of output.
"The text rests on a careful financial balance, and we must make sure this balance is preserved," Social Affairs Minister Marisol Touraine, the official handling the reform, said of a bill due to enter parliament on October 7.
Read more of this report from Reuters.