Macron allows reforms amid unrest
President Emmanuel Macron urged French companies to pay their workers a year-end bonus that won’t be taxed and ended levies on overtime as he sought to draw a line under the month-long Yellow Vests crisis roiling France.
In a statement aired on French TV and radio networks, Macron said his country was at a historic crossroads and acknowledged his share of responsibility for the anger on the streets.
“I feel in many ways that the anger of the yellow vests is right,” he said in his first public comments for more than a week. He said France was facing “a state of social and economic emergency.” “We probably have not been able for a year and a half to bring quick enough and strong enough responses.”
Macron also acknowledged he may have given an impression “not to care” about the concerns of ordinary citizens and “might have hurt” some people with his comments.
Macron is perceived by many in France as arrogant, for instance telling an unemployed man he could find a job if he “crosses the street” and advising a retiree not to complain.
The French leader reiterated earlier promises to raise the minimum wage and pledged to abolish taxes on overtime pay starting Jan. 1, several months before schedule. He also said a tax hike pensioners faced would be scrapped.
All of the measures offered had been demanded by the yellow-vested protesters who have led four weeks of increasingly radicalized demonstrations against Macron’s presidency, seen as favouring the rich. Trying to sound gentle and calming, Macron acknowledged “anger and indignation” among members of the public over the cost of living. But he also said “no indulgence” would be given to people behind the protest violence. He said “no anger justifies” attacking police or looting stores, saying both threaten France’s cherished liberty.
Elected for a five-year mandate with a majority in parliament and no midterm elections, Macron’s job should be safe for now. But his ability to continue with the ambitious program of reforms he’s set out will depend on how the public reacts to Monday night’s statement. “He says that he is changing, but he mustn’t go back to his bad old habits in a few months time,” Alain Bouche, a representative of the Yellow Vests, said on BFM television.
The Yellow Vests movement started off with people wearing security vests from their cars to protest the fuel tax hikes planned for January. Then it moved onto social media and, as it gathered momentum, supporters began to block roads and fuel depots.
As the demonstrations gathered force, the demonstrators’ demands also shifted, becoming a broader backlash against sliding living standards and Macron himself.