Description: French President, Emmanuel Macron, announced that riot police would be reinforced by the French military in the upcoming weekend, while gatherings have been prohibited in major cities across the country. The decision follows a week of violent rioting and looting across France when the French government was caught unprepared by the scale of the protests. French Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu, is set to meet with leaders of trade unions, political parties and student unions to discuss their demands. This week a curfew measure was introduced which banned gatherings throughout the day in order to stop the violence and disorder across the country. The protests emerged as a public response to France’s numerous crises ranging from high costs of living, public debt deficits, budget cuts, and political infighting.
Impact: The French government enforcement is likely to prevent further large – scale violence, however, it’s unlikely to stem the protest movement. The country’s issues are largely systemic and spread across the entire socio – economic spectrum which indicates that the protests are highly likely to continue in the short to mid – term period with large scale. The protests have been politically exploited by the National Rally and the France Unbowed parties which are likely aiming to position their candidates in the upcoming presidential elections by pointing out the government’s mismanagement of the country. Lecornu’s meeting with leaders from the various protest groups is unlikely to deliver any substantial results in the immediate term, however, the government would likely engage the movement continuously in order to prevent another civil uprising and a potential prolonged political crisis. The protests have already damaged France’s credit and investment standing and are likely to cause further disruptions in key sectors such as tourism, transport and domestic trade.