Paris, (EFE).- The French Constitutional Council on Wednesday rejected a new request for the pension reform that delays the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 years to be submitted to a referendum, as the left wanted.
This is another legal setback for opponents of this controversial reform.
On April 14, the Magna Carta interpretation body denied a first request for consultation and gave the green light to the bulk of the controversial law, which allowed French President Emmanuel Macron to promulgate it the next day so that it can enter into force in September.
Rejection of a second initiative
In a statement, the Constitutional Council chaired by former Socialist Prime Minister Laurent Fabius explained this new rejection because the second referendum initiative does not imply “a reform related to social policy” that could justify its call.
This second petition of the so-called Shared Initiative Referendum (RIP) had been signed by 253 deputies and senators, the vast majority of them from the left (La Francia Insumisa, socialists, ecologists and communists).
With respect to the first, the creation of a new tax related to the financing of pensions had been added as a novelty. Its promoters hoped that this could be accepted to the extent that it would imply a substantial change.
If authorized by the Council, the RIP would have had a long and tortuous road ahead since it was necessary to collect almost 5 million signatures from voters in nine months (10% of the electoral body).
In addition, the two legislative chambers – the National Assembly and the Senate – would have to review the text within six months.
Since it was included in the Constitution in 2008, under the mandate of Nicolas Sarkozy, no RIP has met the conditions to be carried out.