Decision of President Emmanuel Macron legal retirement age increase in France was constitutionally approved on Friday, clearing the way for the measure to be gradually introduced in the fall but did little to quell people’s simmering anger over it.
In a very high prediction rulingFrance’s Constitutional Council, which reviews legislation to make sure it’s in line with the Constitution, rejected some parts of the new law, but kept its core intact — raising the age at which workers can start receiving government pension to 64, from 62.
“The text ended its democratic process,” Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne say on Twitter after the judgment. Tonight, there are no winners and no losers.
Most opponents of the overhaul did not argue that the age increase itself is unconstitutional; instead, they accuse the government of abusing legal tools to cut debates short and get changes through Parliament.
But the panel disagreed, arguing in a statement that while the “combined use” of those tools was unusual, it did not make the legislative process “unconstitutional.”
The ruling will come as a relief for Mr Macron after months of protests and strikes have turned into bitter stalemate with labor unions vehemently opposed to the law.
Mr. Macron has bet much of his second term legacy about raising the retirement age, despite its widespread unpopularity, and now he’ll be eager to put the matter behind him.
But few expected the council’s decision to put an end to the intense social and political turmoil that the pensions overhaul has caused, especially since Mr. decided to skip a full vote to pass Parliament, causing a vote of no confidence that his cabinet barely survived.
For labor unions, most opposition parties and many French people, raising the retirement age – constitutional or not – is It’s simply unacceptableand many have vowed to continue to challenge it.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a famous leftist politician, say on Twitter that the ruling showed the council was “attentive to the needs of the presidential monarchy rather than the needs of its sovereigns” – a blow to Mr Macron, who has struggled to shake off image of a distant and lost leader.
“The struggle continues and forces must be gathered,” Mr. Mélenchon added.
Marine Le Pen, of the far-right National Rally Party, said in a statement that enacting the pension changes would “mark the definitive rift between the French people and Emmanuel Macron.”
In the non-appealable ruling, the nine-member panel rejected what it deemed legislative provisions – six measures unrelated to budgetary issues and therefore deemed inappropriate for law enforcement. included in the budget bill.
Those provisions include one that forces large companies to disclose the number of older workers they employ and another that would create a special contract aimed at reducing unemployment of elderly workers.
On Friday, before the council ruled, Mr Macron invited labor unions to meet next week, although unions appeared unwilling to negotiate unless the pension plan was scrapped.
Some of the protests in recent weeks have turned violent and have been responded to by a heavy-handed police response.
Authorities banned protests outside the Constitutional Council in central Paris, and police officers in riot gear blocked a road leading to the building with barricades and trucks on Friday. .
Instead, thousands of protesters gathered in front of City Hall under a light drizzle. Few people seemed surprised by the verdict.
“Honestly, we didn’t expect much from the Constitutional Council,” said Pablo Guerrero, a 62-year-old tech expert who has taken shelter under a rainbow umbrella.
“We can only hope that this decision will spur the protest movement,” he added. A similar thing happened earlier in the process, when Mr Macron’s decision to skip a vote in the lower house of Parliament prompted wild unsettled days.
The judgment was made a day after hundreds of thousands Protesters once again took to the streets to denounce the overhaul. Although the scale of the protests and the number of workers participating in the strike have decreased somewhat in recent weeks, turnout remains remarkable.
Opponents of the law argue that Mr Macron has accelerated the pension overhaul through Parliament by including it in the social security bill, which allows the government to use a range of constitutional tools to limit competition. arguments of legislators.
Critics argue that those tools are designed to avoid a funding gap at the end of the year, not to pass social laws with dire consequences. In their eyes, that was enough for the council to overrule the entire law.
Unlike the Supreme Court in the United States, the Constitutional Council does not head the court system in France and none of its members are judges.
Most are former politicians or senior civil servants, who do not always have legal expertise; Council discussions and voting are not public, with no objections. That lack of transparency has sparked criticism that the council cannot be impartial and tends to side with the executive.
The current chairman of the council is Laurent Fabius, a former Socialist prime minister. Other members include Jacqueline Gourault, one of Mr. Macron’s ministers for much of his first term; and Alain Juppé, a conservative former prime minister who led a failed attempt to change France’s pension system in the 1990s.
“These are people who have political experience and know the consequences their decisions can have,” said Bastien François, professor of political science at the Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University. He noted that former ministers and prime ministers may not want to “see the emperor without clothes” by completely dismissing the president’s plans.
Mr Macron has until the end of the month to formally enact the legislation, excluding provisions that have been scrapped by the council. Starting in September, the law gradually raises the legal age when workers can start receiving retirement benefits every three months each year until they turn 64 in 2030. It also accelerates an earlier change making increase the number of years that employees have to contribute to the system to receive full pension.
But opponents are holding out hope that continuing to put pressure on Mr Macron and his government might still force him to back down. There is precedent: In 2006, rocked by massive street protests, the French government never did a controversial youth job contract even though it has become law.
Tom Nouvian contribution report.
