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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Bill McLoughlin

France braced for further protests ahead of retirement age ruling

Armed police were deployed outside France’s Constitutional Council on Friday ahead of a ruling on Emmanuel Macron’s plans to raise the retirement age.

The country has been hit by riots following Mr Macron’s plans to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Mr Macron has said the French must work longer or else the pension budget will fall billions of euros into the red each year by the end of the decade.

“The country must continue to move forward, work, and face the challenges that await us,” Mr Macron said during a state visit to the Netherlands.

Without an absolute majority in the National Assembly, Mr Macron deployed the Article 49.3 mechanism to bypass a vote which the council will also decide on.

Groups have said they will respect any decision from the council, but such was the continued rage at the plans on Thursday, that protesters stormed the Paris HQ of luxury brand Louis Vuitton.

More than 100 protesters were seen in the wood-panelled entrance hall of the building that is home to Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton which is commonly known as the LVMH group.

“If you’re looking for money to finance pensions, take it from the pockets of billionaires,” said Fabien Villedieu, a representative of the Sud Rail union said, stressing that the protest was “symbolic and peaceful.”

The French president’s favourite restaurant, La Rotonde, was also set ablaze last week.

King Charles and Camilla, the Queen Consort, were forced to cancel the long-planned trip to Paris and Bordeaux last month, because of the escalating disturbances.

Beyond riots, anti-Macron protests in France have included some 10,000 tonnes of rubbish building up on the streets of Paris after binmen withdrew their labour.

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