French President Emmanuel Macron issued a decree reforming the retirement system, which provides in particular for raising the retirement age to 64 years, according to what was stated in the Official Gazette on Saturday, following the Constitutional Council approved it on Friday, according to AFP.
After the Constitutional Council’s decision to approve the reform of the retirement system, the Federation of Trade Unions demanded, during a meeting on Friday evening, Macron not to issue a decree for this reform, but the union’s demand was not fulfilled.
The approval of the Constitutional Council angered the opposition and trade unions, who vowed to continue fighting a project that has become a symbol of Macron’s second term, according to Agence France-Presse.
The nine members of the parliament approved the most important part of the law, rejecting at the same time a number of secondary provisions of the reform, as well as rejecting a draft referendum called for by the left.
This decision, which the executive authority and the unions have been waiting for weeks, opens the way for the rapid activation of the law.
The decision is supposed to end a crisis that has lasted for more than three months. However, the Federation of Trade Unions called on Macron, in a meeting on Friday evening, not to activate the reform, according to AFP.
“Tonight, there is no winner or loser,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Twitter.
Macron had invited the unions, even before the council’s decision, to meet with him on Tuesday, with the aim of resuming a dialogue that had been suspended for three months.
However, the unions announced that they would not meet the executive authority before May 1, Labor Day, which they called for making it an “extraordinary day of mobilization.”
Also, the opposition pledged to continue fighting once morest this text.
Fears of social unrest
After the Constitutional Council issued its decision, the main parties in the opposition announced that they were determined to continue their battle once morest the bill to reform the pension system, warning in particular of the dangers of violence.
The leader of the radical left, Jean-Luc Melenchon, said, “The struggle continues,” while the leader of the far-right, Marine Le Pen, confirmed that “the political fate of reforming the pension system has not yet been decided,” according to AFP.
Likewise, Communist Party leader Fabien Roussel called on the executive authority not to “activate” this law, which was approved by the Constitutional Council.
He said, “I fear (the occurrence of) social unrest…”, while some demonstrations once morest reform witnessed acts of violence, especially since the law was passed without a vote in the National Assembly, through the government’s resort to Article 49.3 of the constitution that allows it to do so.
On the other hand, the leader of the traditional right, Eric Ciotti, called on “all political forces … to accept” the decision, considering at the same time that “the rejection of some of its articles punishes the mistakes (in) the government’s method.”
Council decisions are not subject to appeal. France adopts one of the lowest retirement ages in European countries.
The executive authority justifies its project by the need to address the financial deterioration of pension funds and the aging of the population.
