French protests take Paris over Macron’s retirement age change

Demonstrators gathered in Paris over the weekend to protest French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to increase the retirement age.

Macron had promised during his 2022 re-election campaign to reform the country’s pension system to address the deficit and to provide more funds for retirement. However, he sparked outrage among the citizens by using a special constitutional power to avoid a parliamentary vote on his pension proposal and increasing the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Macron’s cabinet argued that the current pension system is unsustainable given the increasing number of retirees. Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt warned that without immediate action, the pensions’ deficit would exceed $13 billion annually by 2027.

Macron Uses Special Provision to Raise Retirement Age Without Vote

“If we don’t do [the reforms] today, we will have to take much more brutal measures in the future,” Budget Minister Gabriel Attal said in a television interview on Friday.

On Thursday, Macron resorted to Article 49.3 of the French Constitution to enforce the controversial pension reform bill that would increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 without a lower parliamentary house vote.

Protests have spread across several French cities since the risky move by the Macron government and have resulted in violent protests and clashes with police extended through the weekend.

Paris police banned protests at Place de la Concorde and Champs-Elysées as thousands organized to demonstrate against Macron’s pension reforms.

Union leaders are threatening to continue protests for several more days. The police allegedly used water cannons and tear gas against demonstrators setting cars on fire and littering the streets of Paris with garbage.

Read More From French protests take Paris over Macron’s retirement age change

Further protests are planned throughout France, including the cities of Marseille and Nantes.