That is now hurting his global image too. More than protesters were arrested in Paris and beyond, and hundreds of police and demonstrators were injured, as gatherings drew more than a million people. There were scattered protests on Friday. Mr Macron has made the proposed pension changes the priority of his second term, saying they are needed to keep the pension system from diving into deficit as France, like many richer nations, faces lower birth rates and longer life expectancy.
Anger over the changes has increasingly turned into broader opposition to his leadership. They included making it easier to hire and fire workers, cutting business taxes, and making it more difficult for the unemployed to claim benefits. Countries across Europe have been raising pension ages. Retirement rules vary widely from country to country, making direct comparisons difficult.
It would also require French people to work 43 years to earn a full pension, or wait until they turn 67, as the law now calls for. He said he took the initiative to call Charles on Friday, and that the visit would be rescheduled for the summer. Charles and the Queen Consort planned to visit both France and Germany during his first trip abroad as King.
He still plans to go to Germany. Charles had been scheduled to visit the city of Bordeaux on Tuesday, coinciding with the tenth round of nationwide strikes and protests. The heavy wooden door of the elegant Bordeaux City Hall was destroyed by fire on Thursday during an unauthorised demonstration. French authorities have blamed radicals for the protests.
But the Council of Europe, the International Federation of Human Rights and media watchdog Reporters Without Borders raised concerns on Friday about violence by police against what has been a largely peaceful movement.
