PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron forced through his unpopular plan to raise the French retirement age by executive fiat after failing to rally a majority of the French people or their representatives in parliament, underscoring the difficulty he’ll have enacting any other domestic policies during his remaining time in office.
The move will likely provoke unions to use bottlenecks in the French economy — such as garbage collection or refinery operations — as they continue striking to try to compel the government to roll back the legislation.
The pension bill, which raises France’s minimum retirement age to 64 from 62, was debated in France’s parliament for six weeks before it became clear it didn’t have enough votes to pass. Not only does this mean that goals such as migration and employment reform may now be out of Macron’s reach, but it’s also created a more hostile legislative environment.
