Hundreds of thousands of protestors demonstrated across France on Thursday, a day after French lawmakers rejected the first part of the 2027 budget bill, in a unified consensus across party lines.
Hundreds of thousands of protestors took part in major demonstrations across France on Thursday, as part of a nationwide strike day involving trade unions, the yellow vest movement, students and workers from various sectors.
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France has faced weeks of protests, sparked by student demonstrations which began in mid-September against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and problems with university admissions.
The movement has since broadened in scope, with trade unions backing students' grievances and taking to the streets to march against the cost of living crisis and rising fuel prices.
According to authorities, an estimated 600,000 protestors took part, while unions have stated more than 1.5 million.
The mobilisation occurred a day after French lawmakers rejected the first part of the 2027 budget bill, in a unified consensus across party lines.
The government's original budget proposal will now go before the Senate, with a vote scheduled for 9 December. A parliamentary committee will then attempt to broker a compromise before the legislation returns to the National Assembly.
More than 70,000 police officers deployed
France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that more than 70,000 law enforcement officers would be deployed on Thursday. He stated that security forces' "primary mission" was to ensure that demonstrations occurred "peacefully" and "without any incidents".
He noted that intelligence services had identified "considerable interest" from the far-left movement and violent protest groups with "several possible aims: taking part in them to provoke unrest; organising unauthorised marches; and carrying out looting and vandalism targeting businesses or public buildings."
Authorities imposed restrictions on trade unions’ proposed protest route in Paris, approving an alternative route instead. The decision comes amid tighter security measures instituted by the government following the violence of 17-18 October, where largely peaceful demonstrations were marred by violence and looting.
On their end, trade unions and rights groups have condemned what they described as excessive policing and “authoritarian” measures aimed at restricting protests. French police has also come under fire over allegations of excessive use of force against protestors.
Budget battle continues
With less than six months left until elections in April, the far-right National Rally party's Marine Le Pen is currently leading in the polls, with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed party, in second position.
With this backdrop, President Emmanuel Macron's government is attempting to push through its 2027 budget through a hung parliament. Its proposals include a series of austerity measures, as France grapples with its major public debt and deficit crisis. France's economic situation has alarmed financial markets and and drawn pressure from the European Union.
On their end, major trade unions have slammed the government's budget, arguing that it "exacerbates the situation by targeting the most vulnerable and those who are ill, freezing social benefits and undermining the protective role of the social security system", in a statement issued on Thursday.
"To tackle the deficit, we need to reintroduce taxes on the wealthiest individuals and the largest companies; this will enable us to fund our public services," Sophie Binet, head of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), told Euronews.
She said that France had sparked a European movement and that French protests had triggered a snowball effect across the continent.
"The common thread is that young people are taking action to defend their rights. They are saying they’ve had enough of being sacrificed and of not having the means to continue their studies. And the second thing they have in common is that workers are fed up with being marginalised and not being paid enough for their work," she stated.
Student unions unconvinced by government's plan
On 26 October, the French government set out a range of education reforms in response to student unrest, including €4 billion in preferential-rate loans for school renovations, as well as creating an additional 15,000 university spaces between 2027 and 2028.
However, student unions have described the measures as insufficient, describing them as "little more than window dressing." They had called for €10 billion in direct investments in school facilities, while some unions backed 250,000 additional university spots.
"The government’s announcements are far from enough; so whilst this is a first step, for the time being it’s still just a drop in the ocean," Sabrine Kharbach, spokesperson for the Students’ Union, told Euronews.
"They tell us they’re going to create 15,000 university places, even though 10,000 places have been cut this year. So, this government really ought to take young people a bit more seriously," she added.
Spiralling energy prices have also stoked public discontent, amid a global fuel-supply shock, driven by the conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The crisis has also led French lawmakers to criticise energy companies over record profits, as households face rising costs.
On 1 November, the French government began releasing 10 million barrels of diesel from its strategic reserves. The government subsequently highlighted a drop in fuel prices across thousands of petrol stations.
France's Economy Minister Roland Lescure told broadcaster BFMTV on Wednesday that prices had on average dropped by 15 cents per diesel litre, reaching 20 cents per litre across more than 3,000 gas stations. There are more than 10,000 gas stations across the country, according to the French Union of Petroleum Industries and Mobility (UFIP).