Following massive riots and mass protests by the Yellow Vests, the French government surrounding Emmanuel Macron is suspending its planned tax hikes on gasoline and diesel for six months.
„No tax justifies endangering the unity of the nation,“ said Premier Édouard Philippe (48) on Tuesday in a television address in Paris.
The tariffs for electricity and gas will be raised at the earliest on 1 March. The central government and France’s Social Liberal leader Emmanuel Macron (40) had come under pressure from the protests of the yellow vests. Roadblocks and demos have been occurring across the country since mid-November.
The rage of yellow-vests protesters, largely organized through Facebook, had sparked the January January tax hikes on energy that Macron and his government sought to establish as part of an eco-friendly regime. But it is also generally directed against Macron, which is considered by many to be too withdrawn. The President moved to the Élyséal Palace in May 2017.
For the coming Saturday, the yellow vests called despite the concessions on renewed protests. At the weekend, more than 5,000 rioters had devastated the center of Paris. Alone at the Arc de Triomphe over one million euros in property damage.
