Protests against raising the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 show no signs of waning. In the Assembly, which approved the reform by bypassing the voting with the constitutional procedure, the unions and the opposition are now looking for the last chance to block the provision that Emmanuel Macron wants. This is the objection before the judges of the French Constitutional Council.
The court’s decision is expected next Friday, April 14, and will be about the constitutional legitimacy of the reform. The opposition, which has applied to the Council, is critical of the government’s chosen means of enforcing the provision, namely a bill that changes the financing of social security that would allow the text to be reviewed within a limited period of time.
Judges will also have to decide on the admissibility of a popular initiative referendum request initiated by 252 opposition lawmakers to seek consultation on reform. Two demands for which a legitimacy decision is awaited, but which will have a clear political value.
This explains the sudden attention of the French press to the composition of the nine-member council appointed by the President, the heads of the National Assembly and the Senate. The head of the Constitutional Council, Laurent Fabius, is seen as Macron’s rival.
Fabius, a representative of the Socialist Party, served as prime minister from 1984 to 1986, during the presidency of François Mitterrand. Defeated in the Socialist primaries in terms of the 2007 presidential election, Fabius served as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2012 to 2016, after which he was appointed President of the Court next week, which will determine the fate of reform with which Macron links his political destiny. Reports that relations between the two are icy Le Monde, but this only highlighted how close several of the other eight members of the Council were to the head of Elysium instead. Hence the cautious optimism in circles close to Macron that the last obstacle to pension reform will be overcome.
Source: Today IT

Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.