Constitutional Council To Rule On Pension Reforms @ 1800CET

The French Constitutional Council is set to issue its ruling on the controversial pension reforms pushed through parliament without a vote by the gov't at 1800CET (1200ET/1700BST). Labour unions have called for another 'show of force' on the streets of French cities ahead of the ruling following yesterday's widespread strike action.

• French legal scholar Rim-Sarah Alouane on the potential rulings of the Council: "[...] there are 3 types of decisions the CC can provide when performing a constitutional review:1) A decision of conformity (décision DC): the law is deemed fully constitutional. 2) A decision of unconstitutionality: the law is fully deemed unconstitutional (this type of decision is super rare). 3) A decision of conformity with interpretive reservations (conformité sous reserve). This mechanism of interpretive reservations allows the Council to declare a provision compatible with the Constitution under the reservation that it be interpreted in a certain way."
• A full acceptance of the reforms would deal a sizeable blow to the strike movement, and would be an inflection point: either where the movement fizzles out or is galvanised. A full rejection could prove a mortal blow to the gov't given the political capital that has been expended on pushing the reforms through without a vote in the National Assembly via Article 49.3, and could see ministerial resignations.
• The third option of 'interpretive reservations' could be the most muddling outcome with the gov't forced to amend the reforms but not junk them. This risks continued strike action and legislative paralysis.