PARIS: French student leaders vowed to go on protesting despite government concessions on education, keeping pressure on President Emmanuel Macron as the movement spreads to unions and other activists, stokes unrest and deepens the economic damage.
The measures included a commitment to cap the size of some high school classes; €4 billion ($4.5 billion) of loans for renovating schools; and the replacement by 2028 of a university admissions system students see as socially unfair.
“Not all our demands were met. We’ll go on for as long as it takes,” Louis Letoublon, one of the representatives of high school students, said as he and fellow student leaders emerged from a meeting with government officials in Paris.
The protests, which have broadened beyond education to draw in trade unions and yellow-vest activists, known for their high-visibility jackets, pose a test for Macron’s minority government.
The government has little room to spend its way out of the unrest, with national debt approaching 120 percent of GDP, while the turmoil is boosting support for far-right frontrunner Marine Le Pen ahead of next year’s presidential election.
The package included €1 billion of investment in university campuses; a move to increase student grants with inflation; and the opening up of a further 15,000 higher education places for students.
“It’s clear we have to ease the pressure being felt in the education system,” Education Minister Edouard Geffray told a press conference.
There was no overall figure for how much funding the package would require. High borrowing needs are already complicating efforts to agree a budget for next year.
The protests, initially triggered by student discontent, have shown little sign of ending after violence nine days ago engulfed dozens of cities, leading to fears the state had lost control of the streets.
Earlier, Macron acknowledged it was likely there would be more unrest this weekend ahead of a bigger nationwide day of protests set for November 5.
On a tour to survey the damage in Marseille and to thank emergency services after Saturday’s protests, he said he would keep security measures in place and work to move protests outside city centers.
Candidate Le Pen, already the frontrunner in next year’s presidential election, has benefited from the unrest and perceptions that authorities are struggling to keep the peace. An opinion poll published on Sunday put her on 32 percent to 33.5 percent, well ahead of her nearest rival, hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon on 17 percent. Surveys suggest she would easily defeat Melenchon in a run-off ballot, expected to be held in early May.
Far-right gangs confront far-left activists
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez earlier said that 1,435 people were arrested nationwide during demonstrations on Saturday and that police had also recorded a new phenomenon, with organized far-right gangs confronting far-left activists in several cities.
“We knew there had been calls from numerous identity-based and nationalist movements to come out, officially, to defend businesses,” he said. “In a number of cities, such as Nice and Montpellier, these groups arrived in organized formations, mainly to target the ultra-left movement.”
A selloff in French government bonds paused on Monday after rating agency Moody’s on Friday refrained from downgrading the country’s sovereign debt.
But business leaders said the unrest was continuing to inflict heavy economic damage.
Alain Di Crescenzo, head of the CCI France network of chambers of commerce and industry, said many retailers had remained closed as a precaution after the violence of October 17, adding this had led to sharp falls in sales.
“We have shopkeepers who are tired and demoralized, and we are killing local commerce,” he told Radio Classique.