Newsletter Newsletters Events Events Podcasts Videos Africanews
Loader
Advertisement

'Yellow Vest' spokespeople to meet French PM

'Yellow Vest' spokespeople to meet French PM
Copyright  REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Copyright REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
By Emma Beswick
Published on
Share this article Comments
Share this article Close Button

Spokespeople for "les gilets jaunes" protest movement have said French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe wants to meet them on Friday.

ADVERTISEMENT

Spokespeople for the "Gilets Jaunes" (Yellow Vests) protest movement have said French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe wants to meet them on Friday.

The group has carried out demonstrations across the country, blocking access to fuel depots, main roads and public transport.

Its primary focus was a planned rise in fuel taxes on petrol and diesel but the movement has widened and now encompasses protests against economic hardship and the perceived elitism of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Philippe invited the group to come to the Hôtel de Matignon, his official residence in Paris, at 2 p.m. CET, the group said in a statement, released Thursday morning.

The meeting will take place on the eve of the Gilets Jaunes' third weekend of national action, with violence erupting on last Saturday on Paris' famous landmark the Champs-Elysées.

REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Protesters carry a French flag, as police officers fire a tear gas during a "Yellow vest" protests against higher fuel prices, on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, November 24, 2018. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Police officers fire a tear gas during a "Yellow vest" protests against higher fuel prices, on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, November 24, 2018. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Two members of the group on Tuesday met France's Minister of Ecological Transition François de Rugy.

Thursday morning's statement said the Yellow Vests hope "that this meeting is more satisfactory and concrete than the first".

It came as official spokespeople Eric Drouet and Priscillia Ludosky confirmed on Tuesday that another protest was to go ahead on the Champs-Elysées on Saturday, December 1.

Macron addressed the group's demands for the first time on Tuesday, offering small concessions but also saying the hike in fuel taxes that will come into force in January would not be scrapped.

He likened the protests last Saturday to “scenes of war”.

An opinion poll published Wednesday found two in three people in France supported the Yellow Vests and nearly 80% thought the measures proposed by Macron were "insufficient", despite the disruption caused by protests.

Go to accessibility shortcuts
Share this article Comments

Read more

Emmanuel Macron names Sébastien Lecornu as new prime minister of France

French doctor goes on trial for allegedly poisoning 30 patients, killing 12

Macron hosts Paris summit on postwar security for Ukraine