France halts fuel tax hikes amid fiery protests
PARIS: The French government announced it would suspend planned increases in fuel taxes for six months in a bid to quell fierce protests that have ballooned into the deepest crisis of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency.
The concession was one of several made by Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in a rare televised address, after the country was rocked by intense street clashes and vandalism in Paris over the weekend.
“This anger, you would have to be deaf and blind not to see it, nor hear it,” Philippe yesterday said after over a fortnight of demonstrations by so-called “yellow-vest” protesters.
“No tax merits putting the unity of the nation in danger.”
Increases in regulated electricity and gas prices will also be frozen during the winter, while stricter vehicle emission controls set to take effect from Jan 1 will be suspended for six months, he said.
“The French people who have put on yellow vests love their country, they want lower taxes and for their work to pay: That’s also what we want,” Philippe said.
Pressure has been mounting after protests degenerated into the worst street clashes in central Paris in decades, leading to scores of injuries and arrests. Mass street protests have repeatedly forced previous French presidents into U-turns, something that Macron had vowed to avoid in his quest to “transform” the French economy and state.
But it was unclear if the measures would assuage the anger on French streets. —