MACRON TURNS YELLOW
Suspends fuel tax amid widespread protests
Emmanuel Macron blinked.
The French president who has prided himself on sticking to his guns even as his popularity levels tumbled, has reversed course and suspended a planned fueltax hike that had sent as many as 300,000 protesters into the streets for three weeks, with vivid images of the violent clashes in the heart of Paris making their rounds worldwide.
In addition to concerns about its impact on French finances, the retreat raises questions about a set of reforms Macron has planned for next year, which involve sure-to-be unpopular changes to unemploy- ment insurance and a unification of France’s retirement systems.
Members of the grassroots group, dubbed the Yellow Vests, have already said the measures announced Tuesday aren’t enough to end the protests.
Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in a televized address to the nation Tuesday said the government for six months will suspend planned increases in gasoline and diesel taxes, hikes in gas and electricity tariffs and the phasing out of tax breaks for tractor diesel.
A three-month national debate will start Dec. 15 on how to fight climate change without hurting French pocketbooks.
“No tax merits putting our nation’s unity in danger,” Philippe said. “We have made propositions, maybe they aren’t perfect. Let’s talk, let’s improve them. I’m ready.”
Philippe didn’t address many of the other demands raised by the Yellow Vest protesters — including an additional increase in the minimum wage. Still, the climbdown is a rare retreat by Macron, whose approval ratings have sunk partly because of a view among many of the French that he doesn’t listen.
He has consistently defended the higher gasoline taxes, saying they’re needed to wean the country off fossil fuels and have been compensated for by cuts to payroll taxes.
Philippe said the fight against climate change would continue, and insisted he wouldn’t raise the overall tax burden or allow the country’s debt to rise.
Speaking in Brussels, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said it was too early to say how the measures would affect France’s finances.
“But a path has been set by the president — which is to respect our European commitments, reduce spending, reduce debt and reduce taxes,” he said. “This course will be kept.”
The cost of the tax freezes is estimated at around €2 billion ($2.3 billion US), Le
Parisien reported, without saying where it got the information.