French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Wednesday that he "wants to go to a vote" in the National Assembly on his project to reform the pension system, which is sparking a wave of protests in France , after an eighth day of demonstrations and strikes in the country.

The French presidency told AFP on Wednesday evening, after a meeting between Macron, French Prime Minister Elizabeth Born and ministers, that the president "wants to go to the vote" in the National Assembly on Thursday.

Sources close to the president added, "We have to mobilize parliamentarians in a spirit of responsibility," adding, "Consultations will continue tomorrow," at a time when it is not yet known whether there is a parliamentary majority that supports reform and would decide the vote in the National Assembly.

And identical sources in the presidential team stated that the president has not yet decided to adopt the reform under Article 49.3 of the constitution, which allows the approval of a text without a vote.

On Wednesday, deputies and senators reached a common formula for the controversial project, which raises the retirement age from 62 years now to 24 years.

This text will be referred Thursday to the vote of the Senate, where it will likely be approved by the majority composed of the right and the center, and then to the National Assembly, where the presidential team does not have an absolute majority.

The strike continued in several sectors in France on Wednesday, most notably transportation and waste collection, while several regions witnessed protests against the project.

Since January 19, millions of French people have demonstrated eight times to express their rejection of this reform.

France is one of the European countries that adopts the lowest retirement age, although the retirement systems are not similar and cannot be completely compared.