The Guardian view on Macron’s pensions retreat: one step forward, two steps back | Editorial

The French president must learn the lessons of the concession he has made on pension reform - or he risks the far right exploiting this battle at the next election

In the end, Emmanuel Macron seems prepared to compromise. After six weeks of strikes involving rail employees, teachers, nurses, ballet dancers, lawyers, concierges, pilots and drivers on the Paris Mi(C)tro, the French government has announced a major concession to unions: the withdrawal of a proposal to raise the country's full benefits retirement age from 62 to 64. Mr Macron described the concession as a "constructive compromise", following the longest mass walkout by transport workers since 1968.

The strike is not over yet. But the French president, above all, does not want a galling defeat for the ilysi(C)e. Projecting an air of steely resolution, Mr Macron has made it his mission to challenge some of the cherished securities of France's postwar economic settlement. His labour market reforms have made it easier to hire and fire workers. Benefits to the jobless have been cut, as unemployment has come down. More low-wage jobs have been created.