France’s Constitutional Council will deliver its long-awaited ruling on Friday on whether the government’s plans to raise the retirement age, which have sparked mass protests, are in line with constitutional rules.
The stakes are high.
The government is hoping for a green light, probably with minor caveats, that could discourage protests and allow it to pass the law that will raise the state pension age by two years to 64 and move forward with other reforms .
“The country must keep moving forward, working and meeting the challenges that lie ahead,” President Emmanuel Macron said during a state visit to the Netherlands.
But trade unions and the opposition warn that months of fractious debates and protests over the pensions bill, which the government pushed through parliament without a vote in the absence of a majority, will not go away anytime soon, even if it gets Council approval.
Unions – and protesters – will pressure Macron not to enact the law, and try to find another way out.
Macron must withdraw this bill “otherwise he won’t be able to rule this country,” the new head of the hardline CGT union, Sophie Binet, said on Thursday, warning of more strikes.
“We still hope that at some point someone in senior positions decides to drop this law, sit down and look at pension financing differently,” said 52-year-old postal worker Francis Bourget at a rally in Paris.
And the opposition hopes to organize a citizens’ referendum. It’s a gamble, with many hoops to jump through, but it could haunt the government for months as the opposition tries to collect the nearly five million signatures needed to get this through.
A source close to Macron said the government will likely publish the bill in the official journal soon, possibly early next week if the Council gets the green light, to try and move forward.
The Council’s decision is expected late afternoon or early evening, probably after 1600 GMT. It could scrap the bill, but this is something it has rarely done and constitutional experts and government sources see this as unlikely.
Alternatively, and more likely say experts and government sources, the Council will approve the increase in the statutory retirement age, but scrap some measures designed to boost employment for older workers because they have no place in a Social Security bill. .
Political observers say widespread dissatisfaction with government reform could have longer-term consequences, including a possible boost to the far right.
“I’m not so optimistic about the Constitutional Council’s decision,” said far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who opposes the pension legislation, earlier this week. “But what do you want me to do? Burn cars? We’ll just tell the French: vote for the National Rally.”
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