The French Constitutional Council on Friday validated the essentials of President Macron’s pension reform, including the postponement of the legal retirement age from 62 to 64, at the origin of a sharp social crisis for three months.
The decision of the nine “Sages” of the Council, guardian of the institutions, paves the way for the entry into force of the law, which Emmanuel Macron wishes to see applied from the start of the school year.
On the other hand, the Council censured, without much surprise, a certain number of secondary aspects of the reform.
He also blocked a draft shared initiative referendum (RIP) requested by the left-wing opposition, which was hoping for a green light to start collecting 4.8 million signatures for a consultation of the French intended to thwart the government plan.
The Council’s decision is supposed to “close” a sequence in the words of Emmanuel Macron, who, even before the verdict, had invited the unions to meet him on Tuesday, with a view to restoring a dialogue that has not existed for three months.
The executive hopes to be able with this outcome to overcome the dispute which has shaken the country since mid-January, and to resume the march of this second five-year term of Mr. Macron, seriously hampered from his first year.
The decisions of the Constitutional Council, to which the social movement and the political class had been suspended for several weeks, are not subject to further appeal.
And now ?
It remains to be seen what will be the reaction of the opponents of the reform, these hundreds of thousands of people who have demonstrated and struck twelve times since mid-January.
“The struggle continues,” immediately declared the leader of the radical left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “The political fate of the pension reform is not sealed,” said Marine Le Pen, leader of the French far right, twice present in the second round of the presidential election against Mr. Macron.
In Paris, a rally began on the forecourt of the Hôtel de Ville at the call of several unions. Several hundred young people were also demonstrating in the capital and should join them at the end of the day. The announcement was greeted with boos.
A few minutes before the announcement of the decision, demonstrators sang “constitutional or not, this law, we don’t want it”, and “we will go as far as withdrawal”, or even “outside Macron and his 49.3”, in reference to the article of the Constitution which made it possible to pass the law on pensions without a vote.
The police fear overflows. Blockages continued on Friday, including the disruption of traffic around Rouen (west) and the blocking of a food platform in the suburbs of Strasbourg (east).
According to a note from the territorial intelligence services consulted by AFP, 131 actions are expected on Friday evening.
Entrenched behind riot barriers, the Constitutional Council itself was under guard. Any demonstration near its headquarters, in a wing of the Royal Palace, is prohibited until Saturday morning.
The Comédie Française, a neighbor of the Council, has canceled its performances on Friday.
The breathlessness of the protest had been evident for several days, and in particular during the 12e day of action Thursday. But the anger remains strong.
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne was able to measure the popular discontent on Friday morning. Opponents of the reform sang “On est là”, a hostile chant, as she visited a supermarket in a small town southwest of Paris.
France is one of the European countries with the lowest retirement age, but with very different systems.
The executive justifies its project by the need to respond to the financial deterioration of pension funds and the aging of the population, but opponents consider it “unfair”, especially for women and employees in difficult jobs.