The crisis revolves around Eurozone fiscal rules. The EU never enforced its Growth and Stability Pact or Maastricht Treaty rules. But now it wants to.
French President Emmanuel Macron is struggling to find a Prime Minister who can lead a three-way fractured political environment in which no group has a majority.
In France, the prime minister is appointed by the president and is responsible for leading domestic legislation including the budget.
On September 8, I noted French Government Collapses in No-Confidence Vote, What’s Next?
Bye Bye Bayrou [Macron’s last Prime Minister]. An amusing “Let’s block everything movement” takes hold.
On September 9, Macron appointed Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu as his third prime minister in a year.
It’s not going well.
The AP reports Strikes and protests roil France, pitting the streets against Macron and his new prime minister
The day of upheaval for the European Union’s second-largest economy aimed to turn up the heat on new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu and his boss, Macron. They’re engaged in an intensifying battle both in parliament and on the streets about how to plug holes in France’s finances, with opponents fighting proposals to cut spending on public services that underpin the French way of life.
Lecornu’s baptism of fire
As he seeks support for belt-tightening, Lecornu has trimmed lifetime benefits for former government ministers — a largely symbolic first step that won’t generate huge savings — and scrapped wildly unpopular proposals to eliminate two public holidays, a measure intended to spur revenue. He has been meeting opposition leaders and labor unions to try to build consensus for a budget, but his close relationship with Macron puts him in the firing line, too.
“Bringing in Lecornu doesn’t change anything — he’s just another man in a suit who will follow Macron’s line,” said 22-year-old student Juliette Martin.
On his first day in office last week, anti-government protests saw streets choked with smoke, barricades in flames and volleys of tear gas as demonstrators denounced budget cuts and political turmoil. That “Block Everything” campaign became a prelude for Thursday’s even larger demonstrations.
Scattered violence
The first whiffs of police tear gas came before daybreak, with scuffles between riot officers and protesters in Paris. The collapse of successive governments — brought down by votes in parliament — that sought to push through savings has given Macron’s critics a sense of momentum. The “Block Everything” campaign that developed online before taking to the streets also added to the climate of crisis.
As it did last week, the government said it was again deploying police in exceptionally large numbers — about 80,000 in all — to keep order on Thursday. Police were ordered to break up blockades and other efforts to prevent people who weren’t protesting from going about their business.
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