A day after French lawmakers rejected the first part of the 2027 budget bill, France is bracing for a nationwide strike.
Hundreds of thousands of protestors are expected to take part in major demonstrations across France on Thursday, as the country braces for a nationwide strike day involving trade unions, the yellow vest movement, students and workers from various sectors.
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They are expected to be joined by healthcare and education staff, air traffic controllers, rail and dock workers, as well as postal employees.
The mobilisation comes a day after French lawmakers rejected the first part of the 2027 budget bill, in a unified consensus across party lines. The government's original budget proposal will now go before the Senate, with a vote scheduled for 9 December.
A parliamentary committee will then attempt to broker a compromise before the legislation returns to the National Assembly.
France has faced weeks of protests, sparked by students demonstrations which began in mid-September against overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages and problems with university admissions.
The movement has since broadened in scope, with trade unions backing students' grievances and taking to the streets to march against the cost of living crisis and rising fuel prices.
France's Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that more than 70,000 law enforcement officers would be deployed on Thursday. He stated that security forces' "primary mission" was to ensure that demonstrations occurred "peacefully" and "without any incidents".
He noted that intelligence services had identified "considerable interest" from the far-left movement and violent protest groups with "several possible aims: taking part in them to provoke unrest; organising unauthorised marches; and carrying out looting and vandalism targeting businesses or public buildings."
Authorities imposed restrictions on trade unions’ proposed protest route in Paris, approving an alternative route instead. The decision comes amid tighter security measures instated by the government following the violences of 17-18 October, where largely peaceful demonstrations were marred by violence and looting.
On their end, trade unions and rights groups have condemned what they described as excessive policing and “authoritarian” measures aimed at restricting protests. French police has also come under fire over allegations of excessive use of force against protestors.
Budget battle continues
With less than six months left until elections in April, French President Emmanuel Macron's government is attempting to push through its 2027 budget through a hung parliament. Its budget plan includes a series of austerity measures, amid a major public debt and deficit crisis.
At present, the far-right National Rally party's Marine Le Pen is leading in the polls, with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed party in second position.
France's economic situation has alarmed financial markets and led to pressure from the European Union. Meanwhile, major trade unions have slammed its budget, arguing that it "exacerbates the situation by targeting the most vulnerable and those who are ill, freezing social benefits and undermining the protective role of the social security system", in a statement issued on Thursday.
On 26 October, the French government set out a range of education reforms in response to student unrest, including €4 billion in preferential rate loans for school renovations, as well as creating additional 15,000 university spaces between 2027 and 2028.
However, student unions have described the measures as insufficient, describing them as "little more than window dressing." They had called for €10 billion in direct investments in schools facilities, while some unions back 250,000 additional university spots.
Spiralling energy prices have also stoked public discontent, amid a global fuel-supply shock, driven by the conflict in the Middle East and the closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The crisis has also led French lawmakers to criticise energy companies over record profits, as households face rising costs.
On 1 November, the French government began releasing 10 million barrels of diesel from its strategic reserves. The government subsequently highlighted a drop in fuel prices across thousands of petrol stations.
France's Economy Minister Roland Lescure told broadcaster BFMTV on Wednesday that prices had on average dropped by 15 cents per litre of diesel, reaching 20 cents per litre across more than 3,000 gas stations. There are more than 10,000 gas stations across the country, according to French Union of Petroleum Industries and Mobility (UFIP).