France's highest court, the Constitutional Council, has given its approval for the government to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, despite widespread protests across the country. The Council rejected some elements of the new law but ultimately upheld the most controversial aspect of the reform. French citizens are deeply attached to the idea of being able to retire at 62, making pension reform an extremely sensitive issue. The government argues that the changes are necessary to keep the pension system's finances stable in the coming years.
President Emmanuel Macron's proposed changes to the pension system have sparked widespread protests and social unrest, with violent clashes between police and demonstrators. The approval of the pension reform is a significant victory for Macron, but it has come at a great political cost as his approval ratings hit near-record lows. The Council also refused a first request by opposition lawmakers to hold a referendum on the reform, but a second request made on Thursday is still under consideration.
The new law is expected to be enacted this weekend, with the first retirees having to wait an additional three months for their state pensions from September. The retirement age will gradually increase with incremental changes, reaching 64 by 2030. The French government will be hoping that the protests, which had already shown signs of waning, will come to an end.
The decision has been met with criticism from opposition parties, with far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon claiming that the Council "is more attentive to the needs of the presidential monarchy than to those of the sovereign people". The far-right's Marine Le Pen has urged those who oppose the changes to vote for her at the next election.
Despite the changes, France's new retirement age will still be below the norm in Europe and many other developed economies, where the age at which full pension benefits apply is 65 and is increasingly moving towards 67. State pensions in France are also more generous than elsewhere, with the country's spending on state pensions reaching nearly 14% of GDP in 2018, larger than in most other countries, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.