In what the anti-establishment group called their 24th ‘Day of Rage’, demonstrators fought with riot police in the French city at a mass protest against French President Emmanuel Macron, despite the 41-year-old offering £4.3million (€5million) of sweeteners to get them back on side. Smoke canisters were hurled about outside the EU headquarters, with demonstrators holding placards and flags that warned eurocrats not to “forget 2005”, a year that saw three weeks of violent riots that included assaults and the burning of cars and public buildings. The scenes come after a desperate plea from Mr Macron that saw him make another public address to the French.
He said: “Deep reform is needed to address the deep sense of fiscal, social and provincial injustice.”
He also said £4.3billion (€5billion) in total would be spent on measures aimed at helping protesters.
Despite this, the protesters continued their wrath and have as a result, been held responsible for the worst violence seen in cities such as Paris for the past five decades.
The Interior Ministry said around 23,600 protesters took part in marches across the country, including 2,600 in Paris, compared with around 28,000 a week earlier. That was the second lowest turnout since the protests started in November.
The protests, named after motorists’ high-visibility yellow jackets, began over fuel tax increases but morphed into a sometimes violent revolt against politicians and a government they see as out of touch.
Many in the grassroots movement, which lacks a leadership structure, have said Mr Macron’s proposals this week did not go far enough and lacked details.
Today’s demonstration in Paris was jointly organised with the leftist trade union confederation CGT and was mostly calm. Protesters also gathered in Lyon and Bordeaux.
Protester numbers have dwindled from highs of over 300,000 nationwide at the peak in November to below 30,000 in recent weeks, according to government estimates.