Agencies / The Daily Star
PARIS: The French government is abandoning a fuel tax hike that was previously only suspended for six months following violent protests, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told lawmakers Wednesday. “The government is ready for dialogue and is showing it because this tax increase has been dropped from the 2019 budget bill,” he told the lower house of Parliament.
The government had earlier Wednesday said it would not change the version of the budget bill currently at the Senate, which had dropped the fuel tax increase.
While Philippe made it clear in Parliament that it would not be in the budget bill, he did not say whether it would be later included during the course of 2019 in a budget update.
Environment Minister Francois de Rugy meanwhile said the move was done to assuage fears that the increase would be postponed only to be reintroduced once the protests stop.
French protesters welcomed President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to scrap the fuel tax rise but said it may not be enough to contain public anger.
Jacline Mouraud, one of the “yellow vests” movement’s self-proclaimed spokespeople, told The Associated Press “I think it comes much too late.”
She said each of the disparate protesting groups will decide what to do next, but many will probably keep protesting. She added that Macron’s move Wednesday night “is on the right path but in my opinion it will not fundamentally change the movement.”
She urged protesters to seize on the French government’s weakness to push other demands such as a rise in the minimum wage. More protests are planned Saturday in Paris.
The anti-government protests started last month over the fuel tax but have grown to encompass a broad range of grievances and anger at Macron. Many workers in France are angry over the combination of low wages, high taxes and high unemployment that have left many people struggling financially.Macron’s popularity has slumped to a new low since the first demonstrations took place on Nov. 17. The former investment banker, who has pushed pro-business economic reforms to make France more globally competitive, is accused of being the “president of the rich” and of being estranged from the working classes.
Macron’s office confirmed earlier Wednesday that he had told a Cabinet meeting that he stood by his decision to cut a “fortune tax” previously levied on high-earners which has infuriated many protesters.
Macron had made cutting wealth taxes a key campaign pledge ahead of his election in May 2017, arguing that such levies discouraged investment and drove entrepreneurs to leave France.
The “yellow vests” are largely made up of modest earners from rural and small-town France, and many want the tax cut for the richest repealed.
Philippe had called for a debate on the tax cut, adding: “If we do not find good solutions, we will not apply it.”
But Macron personally stood his ground, telling his Cabinet: “We will not undo everything that has been done over the past 18 months.”
Philippe had announced Tuesday the first major retreat of Macron’s presidency when he suspended for six months a rise in fuel taxes scheduled for Jan. 1.
He also froze increases in regulated electricity and gas prices and new vehicle norms which would have hit users of old, polluting diesel cars a battery of announcements targeted at low-income families.
The sweep of the protests and their wide support by citizens of all political stripes has shocked the government. In the last few days, Paris saw the worst anti-government protest riot since 2005. French students set fires outside high schools to protest a new university application system. Small business owners blocked roads to protest high taxes and retirees marched to protest the president’s perceived elitism.
French police have cleared most of the fuel depots that protesters had blocked earlier in the week, but fuel shortages continued to hit parts of France Wednesday, with hundreds of gas stations affected.
France’s largest farmers’ union Wednesday said it will launch anti-government protests next week, after trucking unions called for a rolling strike.
Trade unions have not so far played a role in the yellow vest protest movement but are now trying to capitalize on the growing public anger. A joint statement from the CGT and the FO trucking unions called for action Sunday night to protest a cut in overtime rates.
France’s transportation minister agreed to meet with truckers’ representatives Thursday.
The FNSEA farmers’ union said it would fight to help French farmers earn a better income but would not officially be joining forces with the “yellow vests” protesters wearing the high-visibility vests that French motorists are required to keep in their cars.
The high school students’ FIDL union called for a “massive and general mobilization” Thursday and urged France’s education minister to step down.
