
French President Emmanuel Macron signed the pension reform law on Saturday, defying three months of protests and vows by unions not to implement the new decision.
The law entered into force immediately after publication in the Official Gazette of France. This publication was made a few hours after the Constitutional Council gave the green light to the enforcement of the law, which foresees the increase of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years. Unions have warned that they will call protests on May 1, when Labor Day is celebrated.
The battle to sign this law has become the biggest challenge for Macron during his second term as president. This topic has also cost him a drop in popularity. Polls have shown that two out of three French women are against continuing to work for two more years.
However, Macron has considered the changes as "necessary" to avoid the deficit in the pension budget, which, according to forecasts, could reach 13.5 billion Euros by 2030.