French Constitutional Council approves new retirement bill
0 
The French Constitutional Council has approved Tuesday the retirement reform bill to raise legal minimum retirement age from 60 to 62, clearing last legal hurdle for the bill.
The highest legal supervising body ruled key clauses including the delay of minimum retirement age to 62 and full pension age from 65 to 67 are in line with the constitution.
The constitutional body was composed of nine members selected by the president of state and heads of both parliaments, along with some ex-presidents of France.
Last year, the carbon tax bill also pushed by President Nicolas Sarkzoy was aborted at the last minute due to disapproval of the Constitutional Council in its final review.
The highly controversial bill that has spurred waves of nationwide protests and demonstrations has been adopted by parliament houses on October 27.
The latest national action on November 6 seemed to have lost momentum as the protesters marching on streets across the country numbered the fewest in two months.
Sarkozy is planning to sign the bill in Mid-November. Trade unions called for further mobilization between November 23 and 26, according to local media.
France is suffering a pension deficit of over 30 billion euros (39.9 billion U.S. dollars), which is expected to spiral to 42.3 billion euros in 2018.
The government stresses the bill is aimed to prevent state bankruptcy. Sarkozy views it the pillar reform in his tenure and is expected to shuffle his cabinet after the reform ends in a success.
According to French law, the head of state has 15 days to promulgate the bill with a signature after it is approved by the highest constitutional body.
