Hundreds of thousands of protesters gathered on Thursday again in the streets of Paris, Toulouse and other big cities for new demonstrations against the pension laws that President Emmanuel Macron and the government with Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne want to introduce. As in the many previous demonstrations, the demonstrators were met by riot-equipped police.
The protests were carried out before a decisive decision in the country’s constitutional council, equivalent to a constitutional court. The council, which is the decisive legal body in the matter, will issue its verdict on Friday.
The ruling is the last hurdle before the pension changes can become law.
A large group of protesters gathered outside the court, which has premises opposite the Louvre museum in central Paris. The buildings’ entrances were guarded by police in riot gear.
Clashes between protesters and police broke out, among other things, outside the luxury goods company LVMH’s headquarters in Paris when protesters tried to storm the building.
Police estimate that between 400,000 and 600,000 protesters would gather around France on Thursday.
According to the bill, among other things, the general retirement age must be raised from 62 to 64 years of age.