As of: 04/14/2023 6:24 p.m
The French Constitutional Council has given the green light to President Macron’s controversial pension reform. For example, the retirement age can be raised from 62 to 64. A referendum will not take place.
The French Constitutional Council has approved the main points of the controversial pension reform. In a statement published early in the evening, the top guardians of the constitution approved, among other things, the most important reform project of President Emmanuel Macron’s government, raising the retirement age from 62 to 64.
Other points of the reform project were rejected. The Council explained that there were legal errors in some articles of the law. In addition, the council rejected a referendum initiated by the opposition on Macron’s prestige project.
Majority of French reject pension law
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne pushed through the pension reform with a constitutional trick without a vote in parliament and only just survived a vote of no confidence. According to opinion polls, the vast majority of French people oppose the pension law. There have been strikes and large-scale demonstrations against the project for months.
After the decision of the Constitutional Council, further protests are to be expected in France. Since the law was passed, the protests have become increasingly radical in recent weeks.
Macron has already announced that he will seek contact with the unions again after the Constitutional Council’s decision.
A hole in the pension fund should be avoided
Macron and the center government want to prevent an impending hole in the pension fund with the reform. The payment period for a full pension should increase more quickly.
Currently, the retirement age in France is 62 years. In fact, retirement begins later on average: those who have not paid in long enough to receive a full pension work longer. At the age of 67 there will be a pension without a deduction, regardless of how long it has been paid in – it should stay that way.