The French Constitutional Council validated most of the pension reform on Friday, including the postponement of the legal age to 64. He nevertheless censured six secondary provisions of the text.
The emblematic measure of this controversial reform, the gradual postponement of the legal retirement age to 64, will therefore have the force of law as soon as Emmanuel Macron has promulgated the text, which should be the case quickly.
The rue de Montpensier institution, on the other hand, unsurprisingly censured several “social riders” who “had no place in the referred law” which is of a financial nature.
Among these: the index on the employment of seniors, which was to be compulsory from this year for companies with more than 1,000 employees, and whose non-publication was to be liable to financial penalties.
Also censored, the CDI seniors, an addition of right-wing senators, which was to facilitate the hiring of long-term job seekers over 60 years old.
“Unusual nature” of the procedures
The institution chaired by the former socialist Prime Minister Laurent Fabius did not follow the parliamentarians of the left or of the National Rally, who had pleaded a misuse of parliamentary procedure to have the law adopted.
A choice which “does not disregard, in itself, any constitutional requirement”, according to the Council, which however evokes the “unusual nature” of the accumulation of procedures aimed at restricting the debates.
No shared initiative referendum
The Council also rejected the draft referendum of shared initiative carried by the left (RIP), which hoped for a green light to begin the collection of 4.8 million signatures with a view to a hypothetical and unprecedented consultation of the French for thwart the government’s plan.
The left-wing parliamentarians tabled a second text on Thursday, on which the Constitutional Council will rule on May 3.
The appeal of the inter-union
“Tonight, there is no winner or loser,” Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne tweeted. According to her, this is the “end” of the “democratic process”.
#Retreats | THE @Conseil_constitute judged, both in substance and in procedure, the reform in conformity with our Constitution.
The text is coming to the end of its democratic process.
Tonight there is no winner or loser.
— Elisabeth BORNE (@Elisabeth_Borne) April 14, 2023
The inter-union “solemnly asks” the President of the Republic to “not promulgate the law”.
Calling on employees to make May 1 “a day of exceptional and popular mobilization against pension reform and for social justice”, she “decides (until then) not to accept meetings with the executive”, says she know in a statement.