Austerity, wealth tax and the 2026 budget: Why have people taken to the streets across France?

From Caen to Marseille to Nancy, over 200 French towns and cities staged demonstrations for new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, to abandon the draft budget measures introduced by his predecessor in efforts to restore public finances, which include a freeze on welfare benefits and pensions.

Critics warn that the proposed measures to bring France’s deficit down will hit the low-paid workers hardest.

“Lecornu was claiming to be breaking his ties with Macronism, all the while telling us that he does not have the means to commit and depends on the decisions of Bercy [the French Ministry of Economy and Finance],” François Hommeril, head of the CFE-CGC union, said in a statement. “He risks becoming […] the man who broke with social dialogue.”

After years of overspending, the country’s public debt stands at a record 3.3€ trillion at the end of the second quarter, namely 115.6% of its gross domestic product.

Lecornu, who was appointed last month as the fifth prime minister under Macron’s second term, has still to form a government and come up with a detailed budget plan for 2026, but according to a recent interview with Le Parisien, he has already ruled out the creation of a 2%-tax on wealth above 100 million euros, backed by the Socialists.

Macron’s bet on snap elections last summer has plunged France in a political and economic crisis which has left the country rudderless more than once, now that the lower house of the parliament is split between three rival blocs. Before Lecornu, François Bayrou and Michel Barnier were ousted in a no-confidence vote amid heated budget talks.

While the Interior Ministry puts the turnout at 195,000 protesters, including 24,000 in Paris, the CGT union counted as many as 600,000 workers, retirees and students on October 2. Meanwhile, 505,000 people had participated in the strike organised on September 18.

The protests affected train services and healthcare, and even forced the Eiffel Tower to close.

“We have reached the end of a sequence. We must not exhaust people either. The French are tired and see that the State is out of touch with the reality of things,” Hommeril pointed out. “Now, let’s let the parliamentary sequence begin.”

Per media reports, the new cabinet lineup will be unveiled this weekend.