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Please make sure your browser supports JavaScript and cookies and that you are not blocking them from loading. For more information you can review our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy.</s>U.S. President Donald Trump has taken another swipe on Twitter at his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron prompted by Macron’s woes over violent protests against fuel taxes.

“I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protestors in Paris have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago,” Trump tweeted late on Tuesday.

“The Paris Agreement is fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters,’’ said Trump, referring to a global deal on the environment drafted in Paris in late 2015.

Earlier this week, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe decided to suspend planned increases to fuel taxes for at least six months.

The suspension was in response to weeks of sometimes violent protests, marking the first major U-turn by Macron’s administration in 18 months in office.</s>The following content is sourced from external partners. We cannot guarantee that it is suitable for the visually or hearing impaired.

This content was published on December 5, 2018 8:13 AM

PARIS (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has taken another swipe on Twitter at his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron prompted by Macron's woes over violent protests against fuel taxes. "I am glad that my friend @EmmanuelMacron and the protestors in Paris have agreed with the conclusion I reached two years ago," Trump tweeted late on Tuesday. "The Paris Agreement is fatally flawed because it raises the price of energy for responsible countries while whitewashing some of the worst polluters," said Trump, referring to a global deal on the environment drafted in Paris in late 2015. Earlier this week, French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe decided to suspend planned increases to fuel taxes for at least six months in response to weeks of sometimes violent protests, marking the first major U-turn by Macron's administration in 18 months in office. Form for signing up for free newsletter. Sign up for our free newsletters and get the top stories delivered to your inbox.</s>French riots over proposed fuel taxes and higher living costs have killed three people since the protests began more than two weeks ago, according to police.

Hundreds of thousands of people across France began protesting gas tax hikes and the increasing cost of living, largely because of French President Emmanuel Macron’s environmental agenda, around mid-November. Protesters, called “yellow vests” after the neon yellow traffic vests they wear, began blocking streets and highways across the country.

Thousands have traveled to Paris to rally in the nation’s capital city. The protesters have clashed with police dressed in riot gear and operating fire engines to spray back crowds of yellow vests. Police arrested hundreds of rioters.

At least 110 people were injured in protests Saturday, including 20 police officers. One person was killed during the riots over the weekend.

French Justice Minister Nicole Belloubet has promised to use the full force of the law against violent protesters and to discourage illegal actions, the BBC reports.

“It’s difficult to reach the end of the month. People work and pay a lot of taxes and we are fed up,” Rabah Mendez, a yellow vest in Paris from French suburbs, told The Associated Press.

The yellow vests are a mix of right and left-wing protesters. The vast majority are working class people fed up with high taxes and stagnant wages that are making each paycheck worth less. Many are running out of money with more than a week left to go until the next payday.

French President Emmanuel Macron returned to his country roiled by protests Sunday after a trip to Argentina. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe had planned to attend the United Nations’ climate summit in Poland this week, but canceled the trip to focus on the domestic unrest.

In the face of the protests, Macron has not backed off a proposal to raise gas taxes even higher to combat global warming. The government’s lack of action to answer the protesters demands has riled yellow vests even more.

“Their response has poisoned the situation even more,” a French protester told The New York Times.

“The citizens have asked for lower taxes, and they’re saying, ‘Ecology,’” the protester said, referencing a speech last week where Macron outlined plans to transition France from fossil fuel to renewable energy.

A version of this article appeared on The Daily Caller News Foundation website.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.</s>Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced rollbacks on fuel taxes and electricity price increases in a rare televised address after France was rocked by intense street clashes and vandalism in Paris over the weekend.

PARIS: The French government on Tuesday (Dec 4) backed down on planned fuel tax hikes in a bid to draw the heat out of fierce protests that have escalated into the deepest crisis of Emmanuel Macron's presidency.

The concessions, coming after an earlier €500-million (US$570 million) relief package for poorer households, mark the first time 40-year-old Macron has given ground in the face of public opposition.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced rollbacks on fuel taxes and electricity price increases in a rare televised address after France was rocked by intense street clashes and vandalism in Paris over the weekend.

"This anger, you would have to be deaf and blind not to see it, nor hear it," Philippe said after more than a fortnight of demonstrations by so-called "yellow vest" protesters.

"No tax merits putting the unity of the nation in danger," he said.

Planned tax increases on petrol and diesel on Jan 1 will be suspended for six months, while hikes in regulated electricity and gas prices will be frozen during the winter.

Pressure has been mounting on the government after protests degenerated into the worst street clashes in central Paris in decades.

Across France, four people have been killed in accidents linked to the demonstrations and road blockades, and hundreds injured.

For weeks Macron held his ground on the fuel taxes, which are meant to finance anti-pollution policies but which critics say unfairly weigh on drivers in rural and small-town France.

Rescinding the January increase - three euro cents for unleaded and six cents for diesel - was a core demand of the demonstrators, alongside a higher minimum wage and the return of a wealth tax on high-earners which Macron abolished.

Two groups blockading petrol depots in Brittany said they would stand down following the announcement of the measures, which will cost public coffers some €2 billion (US$2.3 billion).

Yet many others said they had no intention of stopping the demonstrations.

"They hope we'll now go home but we're not going to move," said Lionel Rambeaux, a 41-year-old welder manning a fuel depot blockade outside Le Mans in western France.

"We want Macron and his entire government to resign."

The government is hoping to stave off another day of running riots and burning cars like on Saturday, when more than 400 people were arrested in the capital.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said extra police would be deployed next Saturday on top of the 65,000 out in force last weekend, urging "reasonable" members of the movement to stay at home.

Paris Saint-Germain's home Ligue 1 football game against Montpellier has already been called off next Saturday, as has an electro music festival in the city centre.

Mass protests have repeatedly forced French presidents into U-turns, something Macron had vowed to avoid in his quest to "transform" the French economy and state.

A new poll by the Ifop-Fiducial survey group on Tuesday showed the former investment banker's approval rating at a record low of 23 per cent.

"Eventually he backed down, which is going to divide the (yellow vest) movement, but it also risks dividing his own political base," said Jerome Sainte-Marie of the PollingVox survey group.

Macron's office said he would not speak publicly about the violence "for the time being", though he met briefly with a protester at his office Tuesday.

He also visited local government offices in the central town of Puy-en-Velay which were torched during a protest last weekend - and was booed upon leaving.

The "yellow vest" movement, named after the high-visibility jackets worn by supporters, emerged on social media in October after months of swelling anger over rising fuel prices.

It quickly grew into wider protests against Macron, whom many accuse of representing a Parisian elite with little understanding of their monthly struggle to make ends meet.

Macron was elected in May 2017 on a pro-business platform that included measures inciting companies to invest to create jobs.

Immediately after coming to power, he pushed through tax cuts for entrepreneurs and high-earners - an "original sin" for his critics.

The "yellow vest" protests have blocked highways and fuel depots around the country, causing headaches for businesses and fuel shortages in some regions.

The protests have spread to dozens of schools nationwide, which were still partially or totally blocked on Tuesday by teenagers voicing frustration over university entrance reforms.</s>French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announces suspension of planned price increases for electricity and gas

PARIS (AP) — French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announces suspension of planned price increases for electricity and gas.</s>The French government caved in after the worst riots in decades and delayed an increase in energy taxes Tuesday — but it was seen as "too little, too late" by many protesters whose anger seems increasingly focused on embattled President Emmanuel Macron.

Demonstrators were back in the streets wearing their signature yellow vests. They blocked several fuel depots and, on a highway near the southern city of Aubagne, commandeered a toll booth to let motorists pass for free near a sign reading "Macron dictator."

The protests began Nov. 17 with motorists upset over the fuel tax increase, but have grown to encompass a range of complaints — the stagnant economy, social injustice and France' tax system, one of the highest in Europe — and some now call for the government to resign.

Last weekend, more than 130 people were injured and 412 arrested in rioting in the French capital. Shops were looted and cars torched in plush neighborhoods around the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue. The Arc de Triomphe was sprayed with graffiti and vandalized.

Four people have been killed, officials said, and more protests are planned for this weekend.

One unifying complaint among the leaderless protesters, who come from across the political and social spectrum, has been the anger at Macron and the perceived elitism of France's aloof ruling class.

Since returning from the G20 summit in Argentina, Macron has either remained in his palace residence or else shied away from speaking publicly about the protests that have created his biggest political crisis since taking office last May.

It was Prime Minister Edouard Philippe who announced a six-month delay in the fuel tax increase that was to have begun in January. Just three weeks ago, Philippe had insisted the government would be steadfast in the tax plans aimed at weaning French consumers off fossil fuels. He also announced a freeze in electricity and natural gas prices until May.

"No tax is worth putting the nation's unity in danger," Philippe said in a live televised address.

Macron, for his part, visited a regional government headquarters that was torched by protesters, but he did not speak to reporters.

The government U-turn appeared to appease few of the protesters, who wear the yellow vests that France requires motorists to have in their vehicles in case of roadside emergencies.

"It's a first step, but we will not settle for crumbs," said Benjamin Cauchy, a self-proclaimed protest leader.

Another self-proclaimed leader Thierry Paul Valette told The Associated Press that protesters now are unhappy not just about the price of fuel but general discontent with economic inequality.

"It's coming too late. ... I'm calling this government to resign," Valette said.

Damien Abad, a lawmaker from the center-right Les Republicains party, also called it "too little, too late."

"If your only response, Mr. Prime Minister, is the suspension of Macron's fuel taxes, then you still haven't realized the gravity of the situation," Abad said. "What we are asking of you Mr. Prime Minister, is not a postponement. It's a change of course."

Protest and street violence has been a central part of France's political culture — from the Revolution in the late 1700s to the student riots in 1968 — and the yellow vest movement reflects this tradition.

In the port city of Marseille, students clashed with police outside a high school — one of about 100 high schools around France that were blocked or otherwise disrupted by student protests, according to the Education Ministry. Many are protesting a new university application system.

Philippe held crisis talks with representatives of major political parties on Monday, and met with Macron, who canceled a two-day trip to Serbia.

"This violence must end," Philippe said.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen tweeted that the delay in price increases was "obviously not up to the expectations of the French people struggling with precariousness," and noted sarcastically that it is "surely a coincidence" that the rise in prices will take effect a few days after European Union elections.</s>PARIS (AP) — French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announces suspension of planned price increases for electricity and gas.</s>PARIS - The French government on Tuesday backed down on planned fuel tax hikes in a bid to draw the heat out of fierce protests that have escalated into the deepest crisis of Emmanuel Macron's presidency.

The concessions, coming after an earlier 500-million-euro ($570 million) relief package for poorer households, mark the first time 40-year-old Macron has given ground in the face of public opposition. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced rollbacks on fuel taxes and electricity price increases in a rare televised address after France was rocked by intense street clashes and vandalism in Paris over the weekend.

"This anger, you would have to be deaf and blind not to see it, nor hear it," Philippe said after more than a fortnight of demonstrations by so-called "yellow vest" protesters. "No tax merits putting the unity of the nation in danger," he said.

Planned tax increases on petrol and diesel on January 1 will be suspended for six months, he said, while hikes in regulated electricity and gas prices will also be frozen during the winter.

Pressure has been mounting on the government after protests degenerated into the worst street clashes in central Paris in decades, leading to scores of injuries and arrests.

For weeks Macron held his ground on the fuel taxes, which finance anti-pollution policies but which critics say unfairly weigh on drivers in rural and small-town France.

Rescinding the January increase - three euro cents for unleaded and six cents for diesel - was a core demand of the demonstrators, alongside a higher minimum wage and the return of a wealth tax on high-earners which was abolished last year.

Yet many said after Philippe's speech that they had no intention of calling off their protests and it remains to be seen if the government's proposals are enough to stem the protests. "Six months is nothing: They hope we'll now go home but we're not going to move," said Lionel Rambeaux, 41, a welder at a blockade halting access to a fuel depot outside Le Mans in western France.

"We want Macron and his entire government to resign." The government is hoping to stave off another day of running riots and burning cars like on Saturday, when more than 400 people were arrested in the capital. "If there is another day of protests, it must be declared in advance and must take place calmly," Philippe said Tuesday.

Mass street protests have repeatedly forced French presidents into U-turns, something that Macron had vowed to avoid in his quest to "transform" the French economy and state.

The concessions on Tuesday could have implications for other planned reforms, including changes to the civil service and a major and highly controversial shake-up of the pensions system.

A new poll by the Ifop-Fiducial survey group on Tuesday showed the former investment banker's approval rating at a record low of 23 percent.

"Eventually he backed down, which is going to divide the (yellow vest) movement, but it also risks dividing his own political base," said Jerome Sainte-Marie of the PollingVox survey group. Macron has not spoken publicly about Saturday's destruction in Paris since his return from a G20 summit in Argentina on Sunday, and his office said Tuesday he would not comment "for the time being".

The "yellow vest" movement, named after the high-visibility jackets worn by supporters, emerged on social media in October after months of swelling anger over rising fuel prices.

It quickly grew into wider protests against Macron, whom many accuse of representing a Parisian elite with little understanding of their monthly struggle to make ends meet.

A centrist, Macron was elected in May 2017 on a pro-business platform that included measures inciting companies to invest to create jobs.

Immediately after coming to power, he pushed through tax cuts for entrepreneurs and high-earners - an "original sin" for his critics.

The "yellow vest" protests have blocked highways and fuel depots around the country, causing headaches for businesses and fuel shortages in some regions. The protests have spread to around a hundred schools nationwide, which were still partially or totally blocked Tuesday by teenagers voicing frustration over university entrance reforms.

Four people have been killed during the protests, including an 80-year-old woman who died in hospital on Sunday after being hit by a tear gas canister in Marseille.

The so-called 'yellow vests' protests first erupted over fuel tax hikes

President Emmanuel Macron has faced growing pressure after the protests degenerated into street clashes and looting in Paris

Running riots with police in Paris over the weekend left cars burned out and shops vandalised

"Out of service" signs at a service station in Montpellier, southern France. Fuel depot blockades by "yellow vest" protesters have led to shortages in several regions.</s>French President Emmanuel Macron scrapped a fuel tax rise Wednesday amid fears of new violence, after weeks of nationwide protests and the worst rioting in Paris in decades.

Protesters celebrated the victory, but some said Macron's surrender came too late and is no longer enough to quell the mounting anger at the president, whom they consider out of touch with the problems of ordinary people.

Macron decided Wednesday to "get rid" of the tax planned for next year, an official in the president's office told The Associated Press. Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told lawmakers the tax is no longer included in the 2019 budget.

The decision has ramifications beyond France, since the fuel tax rise was part of Macron's efforts to wean France off fossil fuels in order to reduce greenhouse gases and help slow climate change. Its withdrawal is both a blow to broader efforts to fight climate change and a warning to other world leaders trying to do the same thing.

The "yellow vest" protests began Nov. 17 over the government plan to raise taxes on diesel and gasoline, but by the time Macron bowed to three weeks of violence and abandoned the new fuel tax, protesters were demanding much more. Many workers in France are angry over the combination of low wages, high taxes and high unemployment that have left many people struggling financially.

On Tuesday, the government agreed to suspend the fuel tax rise for six months. But instead of appeasing the protesters, it spurred other groups to join in, hoping for concessions of their own. The protests took on an even bigger dimension Wednesday with trade unions and farmers vowing to join the fray.

Police warned of potential violence during demonstrations in Paris on Saturday, with one small security forces union threatening a strike.

So after nightfall Wednesday, as parliament debated the 2019 budget, Macron's government suddenly gave in.

"I have no problem with admitting that on such or such question we could have done differently, that if there is such a level of anger ... it's because we still have a lot of things to improve," the prime minister told legislators.

Philippe said "the tax is now abandoned" in the 2019 budget, and the government is "ready for dialogue." The budget can be renegotiated through the year, but given the scale of the recent protests, Macron is unlikely to revive the added fuel tax idea anytime soon.

Jacline Mouraud, one of the self-proclaimed spokespeople for the disparate yellow vest movement, told the AP that Macron's concession "comes much too late, unfortunately."

"It's on the right path, but in my opinion it will not fundamentally change the movement," she said.

Three weeks of protests have caused four deaths, injured hundreds and littered central Paris with burned cars and shattered windows.

The sweep of the protests and their wide support by citizens of all political stripes has shocked Macron's government. In the last few days, Paris saw the worst anti-government riot since 1968, French students set fires outside high schools to protest a new university application system, small business owners blocked roads to protest high taxes, and retirees marched to protest the president's perceived elitism.

Macron's popularity has slumped to a new low since the demonstrations began. The former investment banker, who has pushed pro-business economic reforms to make France more competitive globally, is accused of being the "president of the rich" and of being estranged from the working classes.

On Wednesday, France's largest farmers union said it will launch anti-government protests next week, after trucking unions called for a rolling strike.

Trade unions so far have not played a role in the yellow vest protest movement but are now trying to capitalize on growing public anger. A joint statement from the CGT and the FO trucking unions called for action Sunday night to protest a cut in overtime rates.

The FNSEA farmers union said it would fight to help French farmers earn a better income but would not officially be joining forces with the "yellow vests" — protesters wearing the high-visibility vests that motorists are required to keep in their cars.

French police have cleared most of the fuel depots that protesters blocked earlier in the week, but fuel shortages still hit parts of France on Wednesday, affecting hundreds of gas stations.

Demonstrators also blocked toll booths, letting drivers pass without paying, to press demands that ranged from higher incomes and pensions to the dissolution of the National Assembly, France's parliament.

At Tolbiac University in downtown Paris, students took over a school building and classes were canceled.

"We need taxes, but they are not properly redistributed," protester Thomas Tricottet told BFM television.

The high school students' FIDL union called for "massive" protests Thursday and urged France's education minister to step down.

One student was injured during protests at a high school in Saint-Jean-de-Braye in north-central France. BFM said he was shot in the head with a rubber bullet. Julien Guiller, a spokesman for the regional school administration, told the AP that the student was expected to survive.

Until he scrapped the fuel tax rise, Macron's actions after returning from the G-20 summit in Argentina had done little to persuade protesters that he was listening to their concerns.

He has refrained from speaking publicly about the protests and has largely remained in his palace. On Tuesday night, he was jeered as he traveled to a regional government headquarters that was torched by protesters over the weekend.

One activist said Wednesday that he fears more deaths if Saturday's yellow vest demonstration in Paris goes ahead and urged Macron to speak out and calm the nation.

"If not there will be chaos," said Christophe Chalencon.

Chalencon, a 52-year-old blacksmith from southern France, told the AP the French public needs Macron to "admit he made a mistake, with simple words ... that touch the guts and heart of the French."

In a disparaging tweet, U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that Macron's decision Tuesday to delay the gas tax hike showed that the French leader doesn't believe in the 2015 Paris global climate accord.
Following large protests against French President Emmanuel Macron's planned increases on fuel taxes, French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe announces that these plans will be suspended for at least six months.