In addition to the retirement age, the Constitutional Council approved other key points of the reform, but rejected a number of side aspects. The council also rejected a request by the left-wing opposition for a referendum on the reform. In France, there are no appeals against decisions of the Constitutional Council. According to Macron’s plans, the pension reform law should now take effect by September.
Publication in the Journal officiel means that the law has come into force. The text in the Official Journal replaced the word “sixty-two” with “sixty-four” for the retirement age.
The Constitutional Council building was protected by barricades and under close police surveillance. Demonstrations in the area were banned until Saturday morning.
Since the passage of the pension reform law through a legal constitutional gimmick, the protests have become increasingly radical in recent weeks. Macron had already announced before the Constitutional Council’s decision that he would then seek contact with the unions again.
However, they said on Friday evening after the decision that they were not prepared to meet with the government before May 1st. They called for an “extraordinary mobilization” for Labor Day. The unions also asked Macron not to sign the reform. This is the only way to calm the “anger” in the country.
In Paris, demonstrators gathered in front of City Hall on Friday for a protest event called by several trade unions. The announcement of the Constitutional Council’s decision was met with boos.
Hundreds of people later gathered in the capital for unannounced protest marches. Bicycles, electric scooters and garbage cans were set on fire, journalists from the AFP news agency reported. Police reported 112 arrests by 10:30 p.m.
Protests also took place in other cities across the country. In Lyon, the police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. In the western French city of Rennes, protesters set fire to the door of a police station and a convention center. In Marseille, train traffic had to be stopped due to protests on the tracks.
The head of the left-wing populist party La France Insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, said after the decision of the Constitutional Council that the “fight” against the pension reform would continue. Right-wing populist Marine Le Pen, who lost to Macron in two presidential elections, said the “political fate” of the reform was “not yet sealed.”
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said after the Constitutional Council’s decision that it meant the “end of the democratic process” regarding the law, and that there were “neither winners nor losers” in the dispute over the reform.
The reform aims to gradually raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030. There are still exceptions for people who started their working life very early or who have particularly difficult jobs. In addition, the minimum pension will be raised to 1200 euros for a full contribution period. More than two thirds of the French reject the pension reform.
For Macron, the Constitutional Council’s decision could prove to be a Pyrrhic victory. The President’s approval ratings are at the lowest level of his term.
