France: mass protests against austerity plans
Hundreds of thousands of people went on strikes and demonstrated across France on Thursday to protest the government's austerity plans. Local transport was severely disrupted, many schools and pharmacies remained closed and blockades were organised at companies. Commentators see the country facing major problems.
Riots for the sake of riots
Die Zeit points to a recurring ritual in France:
“Upheaval wherever you look. The unruly Gauls are living up to their reputation. The newly appointed Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu is in an unenviable position. Here in Germany we sometimes look at our restless neighbour to the west with admiration and sometimes with horror. Bravo! The French won't let themselves be bossed around! Oh no, not another riot on the Champs-Élysées! Burning rubbish bins and shattering shop windows have actually become part of French folklore. ... The demonstrations and strikes in France are mostly organised by those on the left. For some of them protest has become a way of life, a kind of creed.”
The disastrous search for scapegoats
The French are getting bogged down in mutual recriminations, Le Quotidien writes:
“Everyone is looking for someone to blame: the pensioners who have too much money, the young people who don't work enough, the poor who receive too many social benefits, the rich who don't pay enough taxes, the excessive number of civil servants, the immigrants who 'take advantage' of their host country, the overpaid MPs, the companies that don't pay enough, the trade unions that only focus on blocking everything when France is already in trouble, the government that doesn't engage in enough debate, Macron who has ruined everything. ... And this list is not exhaustive. Every day brings a new scapegoat. France will never achieve anything if it remains so divided.”
Good news for the prime minister
The protests will have little impact, L'Opinion says:
“The gap between the dream of a major social revolution and reality is wider than ever. ... Is this the worrying result of a sense of hopelessness, a social 'what's the point' attitude? If so, it would be a sign that protesting France no longer has any hopes for the new prime minister and would rather wait for the big shake-up that will come with the more or less imminent presidential election. Be that as it may, this relative failure of the trade unions to mobilise will allow Sébastien Lecornu to shake off some of the political pressure that the left and its radical programme had hoped to exert. ... That's good news.”
Risky for all Europe
Business website Oikonomikos Tachidromos comments:
“France is now facing a national debt of over 3.3 trillion euros. This is not just the result of external crises but above all the mismanagement of the successive governments under Macron since 2017. ... As the country with the third highest public debt to GDP ratio in Europe, France is likely to experience even greater economic turbulence in the coming years. And because it is also the second-largest economy in the Eurozone, the consequences could be significant. ... Anyone who thinks that the fact that interest rates on French ten-year bonds are higher than those on Greek bonds is not problematic needs to grasp that a worsening of the situation in France could also push up interest rates on Greek bonds.”