PARIS (AP) — The French parliament is beginning debate on a special measure that would make it easier, and quicker, for President Emmanuel Macron's government to redesign the nation's labor rules, one of the most divisive promises of his presidency.

The bill that lawmakers begin reviewing on Monday would allow the government to avoid what would surely be lengthy, heated debate. The bill is controversial, and far-left lawmakers have called it the "mother of battles."

France's jobless rate has hovered around 10 percent for years, and Macron has vowed to bring it down by the end of his five-year term. He insists on the need for more flexible labor laws making it easier to, for instance, hire and fire.

Details of the labor reforms are to be unveiled in late August.