The Constitutional Court, the country’s highest authority on constitutional matters, on Friday handed down its ruling on whether the pension reform – which among other things raises the pension age from 62 to 64 – was constitutional.

As there is no appeal against court decisions, a refusal would have been a crushing blow for Macron’s government – but the court announced on Friday evening that the major parts of the reform were approved.

The court also rejected a request for a referendum on the subject of pension reform – something that could have dragged out the whole issue for at least another year.

Demonstrations had taken place in cities including Paris and Toulouse ahead of the ruling. In the capital, all protest in the vicinity of the court itself has been banned between Thursday and Saturday.

The pension reform has been the subject of repeated strikes and demos since January 19th, while have caused widespread disruption to services including flights, trains and city public transport, as well as causing fuel shortages through oil refinery blockades.

Speaking ahead of the ruling, the heads of France’s more militant unions insisted that the fight against pension reform would go on, while the more moderate CFDT union said it would respect the ruling of the council.{

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