France’s Constitutional Court approves the government’s controversial pension reform to raise the retirement age. This could lead to new rounds of riots and disturbances in the country.

Now the pension reform in France is ready to be put into practice, to the great frustration of millions of trade unionists and others who now lose an important benefit in working life.

The approval means that the reform will receive President Emmanuel Macron’s signature within 48 hours, reports the television station BFM.

Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt says that the reform will be implemented from 1 September.

NTB-Reuters-AFP reports on the case.

There have been extensive demonstrations, almost street fighting, related to this reform. Due to the authorities’ plan is for the retirement age to be raised from 62 to 64 and for the earning period to receive a full pension to be increased to 43 years.

The demonstrations have not only targeted the content of the reform, but also the fact that President Emmanuel Macron used a constitutional provision to push it through without a final vote in the National Assembly.

However, some parts of the reform have legal shortcomings, according to the Constitutional Court.

But the court rejected the demand from the French political left that a referendum must be held on the pension reform. In a poll last month, 71 percent said they supported a referendum. 67 percent said they would have voted no to the reform in such a vote.

Won’t give up

Far-left leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon vows to continue his opposition to the reform.

The fight continues and must gather strength, he wrote on Twitter after the Constitutional Court’s announcement.

Nor is far-right leader Marine Le Pen giving up. She states that the reform’s fate “is not sealed”, despite the Constitutional Court’s conclusion.

The French opposition has submitted a new request for a referendum, which the Constitutional Court will consider at the beginning of May.