France's cost-of-living marches turn violent days before a budget vote

What happened

Hundreds of thousands of people marched across France on Saturday 17 October against rising living costs, and clashes, fires and looting followed in several cities, the Associated Press reported. ^[1]

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said 110 marches drew about 550,000 people; organizers, including the CGT union and student groups, said about 800,000. City Hall in Limoges was set on fire, a tourist office burned in Lyon, and protesters briefly forced their way into Marseille's City Hall, AP reported. ^{[1, 3]}

Why it matters

Protesters were angry as gasoline, energy and food prices spiked in recent months, AP reported. INSEE's final September figures show consumer prices 3.1 percent higher than a year earlier, energy 21.3 percent higher and diesel 44.1 percent higher. Food was 1.4 percent higher, so the official index shows the jump in energy far more than in food. ^{[1, 8]}

How the count grew

The arrest count rose with each statement. By Saturday afternoon in Paris, Nuñez's office reported at least 272 arrests, AP reported; by Saturday evening Nuñez said about 400. ^{[2, 1]}

On Sunday 18 October AP reported at least 1,800 arrests, and CNN reported Nuñez saying more than 2,000 people were detained and more than 600 officers injured. On France Inter on Monday 19 October, Nuñez put the number arrested at 2,400, LCP reported. ^{[3, 4, 5]}

CNN reported two deaths linked to the weekend: a 22-year-old police officer struck by a vehicle in Nantes, Nuñez said, and a protester near Paris after a cardiorespiratory arrest, BFMTV reported. Nuñez said on Monday he had offered his resignation and that President Emmanuel Macron refused it, LCP reported. He acknowledged what he called a lack of anticipation: 550,000 marched where 200,000 were expected. ^{[4, 5]}

The budget in the way

The Assembly scheduled debate on the first part of the 2027 budget from Tuesday 13 to Monday 19 October. The vote on that whole first part is set for Tuesday 20 October, after questions to the government, the Assembly's Conference of Presidents decided. ^[6]

Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu's draft would bring the deficit to 5 percent of output from 5.4 percent, Fortune reported. French bond yields had reached their highest levels in 24 years and public debt stood at 119 percent of output, according to Fortune. It reported that the budget could pass if Marine Le Pen ordered her allies in the Assembly to abstain. ^[7]

What settles it next

The vote on the budget's first part is Tuesday 20 October. Debate on the 2027 social security budget runs to Monday 26 October, its vote and the budget's second part follow on Tuesday 27 October, the Assembly's calendar shows. ^[6]

Macron asked the government to convene students, teachers and unions this week to discuss proposals, CNN reported. INSEE publishes its next consumer price figures, for October, on Friday 13 November. ^{[4, 8]}

Who it reaches

No US-listed company is tagged: the reports read name no company in the desk's universe with a path to the protests or the vote. Carrefour's chief executive said about 1,500 of the retailer's stores across France were affected by the violence, CNN reported. ^[4]