Maundy Thursday in France was another day of protests and strikes against the government's pension reform, which aims to increase the retirement age from 62 to 64 by 2030.

The plan, aimed at getting the French to work longer, also requires 43 years of work to earn a full pension at 64 – otherwise, workers would have to wait until they are 67.

This rule will come into effect by 2027, while the statutory retirement age will increase by three months each year starting in September 2023, reaching the 64-year threshold by the end of the decade.

The government argues that the reform is necessary to make France's pension system financially sustainable as the country's population ages. The opposition and trade unions are actively calling for alternative options, such as making companies and the wealthy pay more to fund the pension system.

The controversial plan was pushed through parliament without a vote and is now being reviewed by the Constitutional Council, which will announce on 14 April whether it approves the entire text or only parts of it, which is the final step before the law can come into force. (...)

What is the current early and statutory retirement age in Europe?

Definitions of the statutory retirement age vary across countries. According to the OECD dataset and the “Pensions at a Glance” report (Pensions at a Glance), each country has different practices depending on the type of pension. Both reports use 2020 data – the latest available data analysing current and future retirement ages for individuals who entered the workforce at age 22.

In some cases, the report does not specify gender, which means that the retirement age for men and women in these countries may be the same.

The current retirement age is of two types: early and standard. According to the OECD report, the early retirement age for men ranges from 59 in Lithuania to 63.7 in Germany. For women, it ranges from 58 in Lithuania to 63.7 in Germany.