Macron pledges tax relief in bid to calm rioting
PARIS — President Emmanuel Macron broke his silence Monday on the exceptional protests shaking France and his presidency, promising broad tax relief for struggling workers and pensioners — and acknowledging his own responsibility in fueling the nation’s anger.
Speaking with a soft voice and gentle tone, Macron pleaded during a brief televised address for a return to calm after almost four weeks of protests that started as demonstrations against fuel tax hikes in neglected provinces and progressed to rioting in Paris.
“We are at a historic moment for our country,” the French leader said from the capital’s presidential Elysee Palace. “We will not resume the normal course of our lives” after all that has happened.
Protesters spent days demanding that Macron speak publicly about their concerns, but it’s unclear whether the responses he offered will be enough to quell the dissatisfaction. Some protest representatives have said more demonstrations will be held Saturday, following the ones in Paris that turned violent during the previous two weekends.
Macron declared an “economic and social state of emergency,” ordering the government and parliament to take immediate steps to change tax rules and other policies that hit the wallets of working class French people.
He responded to several of the protesters’ demands, promising measures that include: an increase in the minimum wage starting at the beginning of the new year; the abolition of taxes on overtime pay in 2019; asking profitable companies to give workers tax-free year-end bonuses; slashing a tax hike on small pensions, acknowledging it was “unjust.”
“I take my share of responsibility” for the anger gripping France,” Macron said, an unusual admission for a president accused of being out-of-touch.
Before his TV speech, Macron met with local and national politicians and with union and business leaders to hear their concerns.