France in chaos with pension reform: thousands in the streets and clashes

Green signal from the French Constitutional Council for the central issue, but also the most contested, of the pension reform intended by President Emmanuel Macron, namely the increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. After massive protests raged across France for three months, the 9 ‘wise men’ – as members of the Constitutional Court are defined – decided to reject 6 provisions of the text, but give the green light to the essential framework of the reform. Macron could therefore now promulgate the text. Thousands of people immediately took to the streets in various cities, from Paris to Nice, from Lyon to Caen to Rennes. In the capital, demonstrators gathered in front of the Hotel de Ville and from there a spontaneous procession departed.

Unions appealed to Macron not to enact the reform. The President of the Republic has 15 days to do so, but sources close to Macron make it known that the enactment could be quick. Within 48 hours according to Bfmtv. “Since 2017, the president has systematically enacted all laws the next day or the day after,” the presidential entourage recalled to Franceinfo. In the morning, Macron had invited the unions to participate in a meeting at the Elysée on Tuesday, April 18, but one was not received from the unions, especially since, according to leaks, the president would like to enact the law before then: following the Court decision the unions united against the reform announced that they will not accept any meeting with the executive before May 1st, the date for which they called for a new day of “exceptional and popular mobilization against the pension reform and for social justice”.

“Tonight there are no winners or losers”, was the reaction of French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. “The Constitutional Court has established that the reform is in line with our Constitution, both in content and in procedure. The text has reached the end of its democratic process”, he tweeted, stating that “it requires an effort on the part of the French who can afford it”. , “but also foresees a lot of progress”. The government has argued that reform is necessary to keep the pension system functioning in the face of an aging population. However, the oppositions promise that the fight will continue: “The Constitutional Council’s decision shows that it is more attentive to the needs of the presidential monarchy than to those of the sovereign people. The fight continues and must gain strength”, commented Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the French radical left. While far-right leader Marine Le Pen tweeted that “the reform’s political fate is not sealed”. “The people always have the last word,” he said.

In its pronouncement, the Constitutional Court rejected the first request for a shared initiative referendum (RIP) presented by the left. On a second request for a referendum, presented on Thursday, there will be a new decision on May 3.