PARIS — France's Senate is starting debate on pension reform that would raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and has prompted nationwide strikes and protests.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has called the bill his top priority for the rest of his term. France is among many indebted European countries trying to scale back spending, and says its money-losing pension system will collapse without reform.

Tuesday's start of the debate is expected to focus on opposition efforts to make exceptions for women who have three or more children.

Unions see retirement at 60 as a firmly entrenched right, and have tangled nationwide transport with strikes over the measure and rallied 1 million people to the streets in recent protests. More demonstrations and strikes are planned Oct. 12.