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Join on Telegram Rabat – French President Emmanuel Macron has signed a controversial bill into law to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, despite massive protests throughout the country in opposition to the reform.
The signing came after France’s Constitutional Council approved the reform on Friday, following months of protests and strikes in the European country.
“The Social Security Code is thus amended. In the first paragraph, the word: ‘sixty-two; is replaced by the word: ‘sixty-four’,” France’s official gazette stated.
Macron had forced the new law through the country’s legislature without a vote, igniting even bigger backlash as protesters burned down luxury shops and cafes in the French capital.
The nine-member Constitutional Council had approved key provisions of the reform on Friday, including the increase of the pension age and the extension of work years required to obtain a full pension.
The legislation was in accordance with French law, the council argued.
But the council did reject the proposal of creating a special contract for older workers, among other minor proposals.
Despite attempts from Macron and other proponents of the reform to convince the French people and de-escalate tensions, protests have continued across the country.
The attempt to push the reform through the legislature caused even further outrage, with protesters recently interrupting Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne while she was visiting a supermarket outside Paris to voice their disapproval.
Union leaders have pledged to continue their protests to get Macron to withdraw the reforms, but said they would respect the Constitutional Council’s decisions in the meantime.
The decision will surely have an impact on the next presidential election, as far-right politician and Macron’s main opponent for the last two electoral cycles Marine Le Pen voiced criticism of the reform.
She said the new law would “mark the definitive rupture between the French people and Emmanuel Macron.”
