Image source, Getty Images

Thank you for joining us. Here's a round-up of what's been happening in France today:

• Tens of thousands of people have protested across the country after President Macron forced through controversial pension reforms
• A special constitutional power - Article 49:3 - was used by the government to avoid a vote in parliament, because Macron's government didn't think it would get enough votes to push it through
• When the PM announced the Article, opposition politicians jeered, yelled and sung the national anthem
• The reform will raise the retirement age in France from 62 to 64 - and there have been protests for weeks over it
• The government says the reforms are needed to prevent a major financial deficit in the future
• Far-right politician Marine Le Pen said opposition deputies would file a motion of no-confidence in Macron's government
• Tear gas was used to disperse demonstrations in Paris, while some protesters pelted police with objects

This live page was edited by Tiffany Wertheimer, Andrew Humphrey and James Harness.

The writers were Antoinette Radford, Jack Burgess, George Wright, Malu Cursino and Adam Durbin.

Le Figaro , externalsays 73 people have been arrested in Paris this evening according to their police sources.

The newspaper also says that riot police are still trying to disperse a group of around 100 protesters who are chanting "Paris, rise up" in the centre of the city.

Image source, Getty Images

While the largest protests are happening in Paris, people are taking to the streets in cities across the country.

In Nantes, there is so much tear gas on the streets that people have been sheltering in bars.

In Marseille, Le Figaro reports that protesters smashed the window of a bank and shops have been ransacked.

At least 1,000 people are protesting in the northern city of Amiens, while there have also been clashes between police and protesters reported in Dijon.

Videos of the Paris protests are being uploaded to social media.

The main demonstration was at the Place de la Concorde square, but most of the protester have now been dispersed by the police.

Videos have shown protesters throwing objects at police, officers charging at protesters, fireworks being set off, and debris fires blocking roads.

Journalists on the scene are reporting that Place de la Concorde has largely been cleared of protesters now.

However there are still reports of some demonstrators clashing with police, and fires being lit to block streets in other parts of Paris.

Image source, Reuters

As we've been reporting, the government has decided to use the 49:3 clause of the French constitution to force pension reform through. But why have they taken this controversial step?

Even though President Macron was re-elected last year on a platform for these retirement reforms, his ruling coalition has no majority in the Assembly and would have needed support from the Republican party.

Officials from Macron's Renaissance Party spent this morning desperately whipping members into line in a bid to get their bill through.

They knew some of their MPs could vote against or abstain, faced with the unpopularity of the bill following the weeks of protests around France.

Image source, CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Macron even went so far as to suggest on the eve of the vote that he could dissolve the National Assembly - which is the lower house - and call an early election.

He began this afternoon closeted with the prime minister and other key figures at the Élysée Palace, counting the probable yes and no votes.

Minutes before the Assembly was due to convene, sources told French media that PM Élisabeth Borne would go ahead without a vote.

But one big risk of using the 49:3 clause is that it also allows the opposition to call a vote of no-confidence, which could bring down the government, if successful.

Most of the protesters in Place de la Concorde have now been cleared out by the CRS - France's police riot squad.

But some are not leaving.

Police fired tear gas at the crowds that are still there, and some protesters responded by throwing stones and lighting fires on the street.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Antoinette Radford
BBC News

PM Élisabeth Borne was just interviewed on French TV station TF1.

Here’s a summary of what she said:

• Alongside President Macron, she tried to get more politicians on board with the bill before implementing Article 49:3
• They wanted to go to a vote, but certain Republicans "wanted to play the personal card", Borne said

• There were hundreds of hours of negotiations with trade unions and the government, trying to find a compromise

• But she said they couldn't finance France's pension system with debt
• Borne also said she was "very shocked" by the "screams" and singing of MPs in the National Assembly, as she announced Article 49:3
• "Some groups want chaos, and it is the modest French who pay the consequences", the PM said

We haven't heard anything from President Emmanuel Macron today.

Image source, Getty Images

Jack Burgess
Live reporter

Image source, YOAN VALAT/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

If you're just joining us, here's the latest on the protests in Paris:

• The French government has used a special constitutional power, called Article 49:3 to force a controversial pension reform bill through the National Assembly without holding a vote in parliament
• The move caused fury among opposition politicians - many jeered the prime minister, sang La Marseillaise and held up signs of protest in parliament
• Tens of thousands of people have been protesting across France and crowds have clashed with the police in Paris's Place de la Concorde
• Tear gas has reportedly been used by police in the square and protesters have thrown stones at the police
• A no-confidence motion could be filed against President Macron's government, far-right opposition leader Marine Le Pen has suggested

One of France's largest trade unions, Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), says another day of strikes and demonstrations is being planned.

"The united union front continues to demand the withdrawal of the reform and calls for another day of strikes and demonstrations" on Thursday 23 March, CGT union official Catherine Perret told reporters.

Police have reportedly fired tear gas at protesters on the Place de la Concorde.

Pictures from the scene show protesters throwing stones at the police, and officers are now reportedly clearing demonstrators from the square.

Lines of police with shields and batons drawn have advanced towards the square, while others fired water cannon after a fire was lit in the middle of the square, the AFP news agency reports.

Image source, Getty Images

It's just after 8pm in Paris, and thousands of people are still protesting in Place de la Concorde.

There have been scuffles between French police and demonstrators, who are angry at President Macron for pushing through his divisive pension reform bill.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, EPA

Tiffany Wertheimer
BBC News

Image source, Getty Images

This massive plaza in Paris is an ideal location for protests because of its size and central location - and it's certainly seen its fair share of them over the past 250 years or so.

But the symbolism of anti-government demonstrations being held here isn't lost on historians and political observers.

Place de la Concorde has been the backdrop of many executions - the most famous being the beheading of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette in 1793 during the French Revolution.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

Image source, Reuters

France's president was always going to have to rely on opposition MPs to back his deeply unpopular pension reforms. But he thought he had the numbers on his side and only backed out of a vote at the eleventh hour when he realised the "financial and economic risks [of losing] are too great".

He miscalculated and that leaves him weakened. It's his signature reform and a majority of French voters hate it.

But he's less than a year into his second term and he's safe, It could be a different story for PM Élisabeth Borne and her government.

The 49:3 decree she's using to force through laws is regularly condemned as "brutal" or a "denial of diplomacy". And France will now face more protests and more strikes as the unions scent a government in trouble.

Whatever the opposition parties say, there's very little chance of her losing any vote of confidence. But her position is still precarious.

She has to keep her minority three-party coalition from wobbling. That won't be easy as the protesters feel emboldened, MPs begin to worry about their own positions, and Macron himself considers his next step.

Far-right politician Marine Le Pen has been speaking to the French media.

She's accused the government of "preventing the expression of the will of the French people" over its controversial pension reforms.

Hugh Schofield
Paris correspondent

Image source, EPA

The Place de la Concorde is sealed off by police. Protesters – a couple of thousand – are massed by the bridge across to the National Assembly, and they have lit a couple of fires. Noisy but pretty good-humoured.

It is Macron’s resort to the 49:3 that has been the trigger.

It may sound pretty abstruse but the procedure is very much part of the political vocabulary in France. Whenever a government invokes the 49:3, it can be sure it will be accused straightaway of riding roughshod over the will of the people.

In fact the 49:3 has been used precisely 100 times in the more than 60 years of the Fifth Republic, and by governments of all shades.

Obviously it tends to be used more frequently by governments that do not have an in-built majority in the Assembly – like the socialist Michel Rocard’s in the 1980s and Élisabeth Borne’s today.

She’s in fact already used it several times but those occasions were for public finance bills, which were less controversial.

Image source, Reuters

The big lesson to draw from all of this is once again, I am afraid, the unreformability of France. By comparison with other countries in Europe, the change to the pension age is far from dramatic. But the bill is regularly described by opponents as “brutal”, “inhuman” and “degrading”.

Morale in France is low and getting lower. For many, retirement is the one bright spot in the future. And now this rich-man’s government is taking even that away.

That’s the underlying feeling.

One protester, 18-year-old Bastien doesn't mince his words when he speaks to the BBC.

He says he believes the government's decision to invoke 49:3 is "undemocratic" and said he believes today's decision is "the last drop in the bucket".

“We’re going to set the country on fire… literally," he says.

"Roads are going to be blocked, railways are going to be blocked... I hope tonight we are not going to see riots but we might, sadly."

Those in the National Assembly who oppose the pension bill now have less than 24 hours to lodge a no-confidence motion.

If that motion is rejected, Macron's plan to raise the pension age will go ahead.

But if the National Assembly votes in favour of the motion, the proposals are rejected and Macron's cabinet has to resign.

When exactly a no-confidence vote might take place is unclear, but if it happens, it is widely anticipated to be early next week.

Image source, Reuters

The National Assembly chants and jeers over Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne as she invokes Article 49, paragraph three, of the French constitution.

“We cannot take the risk of seeing 175 hours of parliamentary debate collapse,” she said.

“We cannot gamble on the future of our pensions. The reform is necessary.”