Victory for Nicolas Sarkozy over French retirement age

French president Nicolas Sarkozy's reform raising the retirement age from 60 to 62 has become law despite mass protests.

The measure, backed by parliament on October 27 and now formally put into effect, sparked weeks of street demonstrations and strikes causing petrol shortages and havoc for travellers.

The law was published in the government's Journal Official today, meaning the president had signed it to formally take it into effect. The constitutional watchdog approved the plan yesterday, and France's parliament gave the measure its backing on October 27.

Unions argued that retirement at 60 was a cornerstone of France's social benefits regime, but the government said the entire pension system was in jeopardy without the reform. French people are living longer - an average of nearly 85 years for women and 78 for men.

Mr Sarkozy said today that France's pension system had been "saved", even though he was "fully aware" that it was a difficult reform.

"But I always considered that my duty, and the duty of the government, was to carry it out," he added.

French union workers and others angry over the reform had disrupted train and air travel, caused fuel shortages and led to a pile-up of rubbish in the Mediterranean city of Marseille. Street demonstrations across the country drew more than a million people at a time.