Fuel supplies low as French protest at austerity plan

Diesel and jet fuel supplies were running low today in parts of France as the country braced itself for another nationwide protest against government plans to raise the retirement age.

Fuel supplies were a prime concern as unions announced Friday that all 13 refineries in France were on strike and many depots were blocked by protesters. Police were called in to force three crucial fuel depots to reopen, including one near the southern city of Marseille.

The Ecology Ministry says fuel stocks at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport were good until at least Tuesday – but the statement left open the question of what happens after that.

Dominique Bussereau, France’s transport minister, authorised oil companies to use some of their reserves after trucking companies complained of difficulties finding fuel, but he insisted there was no reason for drivers to fear a petrol shortage.

Still, a sign today at a petrol station in Feyzin, near the eastern city of Lyon, announced a fuel shortage at all pumps.

In Paris, balloons floated above the Place de la Republique, the starting point for today’s protest against plans to make the French work until 62 before retiring. It was the latest in a full month of protests that have swept France, affecting trains, subways, airports, hospitals, schools and other key facilities.

Countries across Europe are cutting spending and raising taxes to bring down deficits and debts that hit record levels after the 2008 financial crisis resulted in the worst recession in 70 years. Labour leaders, students and civil servants are fighting back.

President Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension reforms – especially raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 – are seen by unions as an attack on their near-sacred social protections. The government says that is the only way to save the money-draining pension system and insists people must work longer because they are living longer. The Senate is to vote on the measure Wednesday.

Even at 62, France would have one of the lowest retirement ages in Europe.

Elsewhere, thousands of students and teachers demonstrated Friday in a dozen cities across Italy in protest at planned cuts in education, while Portugal’s minority government faced a battle in parliament over abrupt tax hikes and deep spending cuts.

In Greece, riot police had to tear gas hundreds of Culture Ministry employees on Friday to end a labour dispute that shut down the country’s most famous attraction, the Acropolis, for three days.