French pension reforms: The Constitutional Council approves a 64-year-old age limit

The Macron government’s wildly unpopular decision to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64 has been approved by France’s top constitutional council.

Political opponents’ proposals for a referendum were also rejected by the Constitutional Council, but some of the reforms were dropped due to legal issues.

Since January, there have been twelve days of rallies opposing the reforms.,

Without a vote, the government pushed the measures through in March by using a special constitutional power.

Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne tweeted on Friday that “tonight there is no winner, no loser” in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s argument that the changes are necessary to keep the pension system from collapsing.

Although throngs of demonstrators had gathered nearby and the decision was welcomed with jeers, the authorities had until Saturday morning to issue a ban on rallies in front of the Constitutional Council building.

Some protesters chanted that they would keep up their protests until the measures were reversed.

The public’s “massive rejection of this reform” prompted trade unions to make a last-ditch request to the president not to sign the pension-age rise into law. The unions argued that the reforms were already unjust and had become “even more unbalanced” as a result of the court rejecting six concessions that had been added to them.

A so-called “senior index” intended to encourage businesses with more than 1,000 employees to hire people over 55 was among the measures that the nine members of the Constitutional Council rejected.

Lucy, 21, one of the demonstrators who assembled outside City Hall, expressed disappointment that “we don’t have the power any more” to the blogtweet.

She said, promising to continue speaking out, “No matter how loud we shout, nobody is listening to us.

Raphaelle, who is also 21 years old, expressed her optimism that the council’s decision will reflect the broad public opposition to the measures.

Having concerns about the future and Mr. Macron’s plans for the remainder of his term as president, 27-year-old Lucas stated, “Making this reform seems really short-sighted to me, and it raises other questions like what are his priorities.”

In case there were any additional, potentially violent protests, barriers were built in the streets close to the court and anti-riot police were deployed.

To continue the nation’s mobilisation against the reforms, the unions urged workers nationwide to take to the streets on May 1.

One of the political alliances that appealed the reforms to the court was the left-wing Nupes group, and its leader, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, declared that the “fight” would go on.

He claimed that the judgement made by the Constitutional Council demonstrated that it was more concerned with the needs of the presidential monarchy than the sovereign people.

The extreme right’s Marine Le Pen responded on social media, saying that “the political fate of the pension reform is not sealed,” referring to the National Rally’s petition to the court.

Although the court first rejected a request for a referendum on the measures, it will decide next month on a second left-wing plea for a nationwide vote.

French political expert Antoine Bristielle told the blogtweet that he did not believe the nationwide protests that have lasted for the past three months will soon come to an end.

It’s not a surprise, he continued, because many people predicted that the reforms would be approved and that the Constitutional Court would not object.

However, “because there are still 70% of French people opposed to the reform, I think we will see a lot of riots and strikes in the country in the coming hours and at the weekend.”