- Catherine Armstrong
- BBC news
WATCH: Macron’s pension reforms ‘violent’, say Paris protesters
France’s highest constitutional body has approved a highly unpopular move by Macron’s government to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64.
President Emmanuel Macron is expected to sign the reform bill within 48 hours.
The Constitutional Council rejected opposition calls for a referendum, but dropped some aspects of the reform, citing legal flaws.
In Paris, demonstrators set fire to the streets and 112 people were arrested.
Demonstrations against reform have continued for 12 days since January.
President Macron has argued that reform is essential to prevent the collapse of the pension system. In March, the government used a special constitutional power to force changes without a vote.
On Friday, unions urged the president at the last minute not to sign the law to raise the pension age in the face of “massive rejection of this reform” by the public.
The unions noted that six concessions made to the reform had been rejected by the courts, making what was already unfair “further imbalanced,” they said.
Among the reforms tossed by the nine members of the Constitutional Council is the so-called “senior index,” aimed at encouraging companies with more than 1,000 employees to hire workers over the age of 55. had.
Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt promised to improve employment rates for those over 50 to ease concerns about the economic impact of raising the retirement age.
Authorities had banned demonstrations in front of the Constitutional Council building in Paris until Saturday morning, but the ruling was ridiculed as crowds of protesters gathered nearby.
Some demonstrators said they would continue their protests until the changes were reversed.
Several fires then broke out in the city as riot police used tear gas to try to contain the situation. Paris police officials said 112 people had been arrested.
Fires were also lit during demonstrations in Rennes and Nantes, and there were occasional tense standoffs between protesters and police in Lyon.
The Élysée Palace has said the president has room for dialogue, but the president is expected to pass the bill within two days. Dussopt said he expects the reforms to be implemented by early September.
Chancellor Elisabeth Born tweeted on Friday: “There will be no winners and no losers tonight.”
Lucy, 21, was one of the protesters gathered outside town hall and told the BBC she was disappointed: “We have no more power.”
“No matter how much we scream, no one hears us,” she added, pledging to keep speaking up.
Lucy (left) and Raphael (right) are among those who have opposed pension reform.
Rafael, also 21, said he hoped there was something in the council’s decision that reflected a greater consensus in the streets against reform.
Streets near the courthouse were fenced off and riot police were deployed in case of further protests, which could lead to riots.
The union called on workers across France to return to the streets on May 1.
Lucas, 27, said he was worried about the future and what Mr Macron intended for the rest of his presidency.
The left-wing Nupes Political Union was one of the groups that appealed the reforms to the courts, and its leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said the “fight” would continue.
“The Constitutional Council’s decision shows that it pays more attention to the needs of the presidential monarchy than to the needs of the sovereign.
Marine Le Pen of the far-right National Assembly, who also appealed to the court, responded on social media that “the political fate of pension reform is not decided”.
The court has rejected the first bid for a referendum on reform, but is due to decide next month on further proposals for a referendum by the left.
French political analyst Antoine Bristiel told the BBC he did not expect the protests that have raged across France over the past three months to end anytime soon.
“Many people said the reform would pass and that the Constitutional Court wouldn’t get around it, so it’s not surprising.
“But with 70% of the French population still opposed to reforms, I expect to see a lot of riots and strikes across the country in the next hours and weekends.”
