The Constitutional Council of France validated key elements of the government’s reform agenda while rejecting an opposition bid to force a referendum on the package. The judges struck down six provisions in the reform, including a measure aimed at encouraging the hiring of older workers, but they kept the most contentious parts intact, signaling they could unleash a new wave of street protests.
France entered the twelfth day of protests and strikes over the reform as hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in major cities. Mobilization is set to continue into January, with unions warning they will persist unless several articles, notably the raise in the retirement age from 62 to 64, are amended.
The Élysée Palace invited labor unions to a meeting scheduled for next Tuesday, seeking to mark whatever decision the Constitutional Council issues. Earlier discussions with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne concluded without progress.
Opposition criticism
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the former presidential candidate and leader of La France Insoumise, criticized the Council’s ruling, arguing that the court’s focus favored institutional stability over the sovereign will of the people. “The fight continues,” he stated.
Marine Le Pen, leading the far-right, warned that although the procedural phase is paused, the reform’s political fate is not sealed. She suggested that the people would eventually decide its future and called for preparing for a political shift that could overturn elements considered unjust by opponents.
President Macron has not yet signed the reform into law, having pledged to wait for the Council’s decision. He indicated that he would ink the measure in the coming days once the presidency had given its clearance, according to sources cited by BFMTV.