The lower house of the French parliament, the National Assembly, is expected later Wednesday to definitively approve President Nicolas Sarkozy's controversial pension reform, DPA reported.
Passage of the final version of the bill is virtually certain, since Sarkozy's centre-right coalition has a clear majority in the body.
The vote will be final parliamentary step in the process, which has been accompanied by nationwide strikes and mass street protests.
The bill will then be examined by the Constitutional Council, at the demand of the opposition Socialist Party. A decision could take as long as one month, after which the reform becomes law.
The reform gradually raises the retirement age for a minimum pension from 60 to 62, and from 65 to 67 for a full pension, by the year 2018.
It will start going into effect in the middle of next year, but will be reviewed in 2013, after a new president and parliament have been elected.
In the meantime, the protests have begun to ease, as have the petrol shortages.
Energy Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said he expected some 80 per cent of the country's service stations to be operational by early Wednesday as strikes ended at five of the country's 12 refineries.
In addition, train service was near normal Wednesday, and trash collectors in Marseille were back on the job after a two-week strike, confronted with thousands of tons of garbage.
Unions have called for more strikes and street protests for Thursday, but they are not expected to be of the same scale as previously.
Demonstrations have also been scheduled for November 6.