Yellow Vests Movement

The yellow vests movement (French: Mouvement des gilets jaunes), also referred to as the yellow jacket movement in English, is a protest movement which began with demonstrations in France on Saturday, 17 November 2018 and subsequently spread to nearby countries (e.g. Italy (Italian: gilet gialli), Belgium and the Netherlands (Dutch: gele hesjes)). Galvanized by rising fuel prices, the high cost of living, and claims that a disproportionate burden of the government's tax reforms were falling on the working and middle classes (especially those in rural and peri-urban areas), protesters called for the end of such changes and the resignation of the President of France, Emmanuel Macron.

                                                                     a yellow vest
The movement has been very visible in French cities, but has also had a wider than usual echo as rural areas have been unusually mobilized in this protest. The "yellow vest" was chosen as a symbol because all motorists had been required by law—since 2008—to have high-visibility vests in their vehicles when driving. As a result, reflective vests have become widely available, inexpensive, and symbolic.

Background

Diesel

Since the 1950s, the French government has subsidized the production of diesel engines. In particular, since 1980, Peugeot has been at the forefront of diesel technology. VAT taxes being cut for corporate fleets also increased the prevalence of diesel cars in France.

Fuel prices

According to the French Union of Petroleum Industries, the price of lead-free 95 (SP95 - E10) and diesel fuel per litre increased by +14% and +22% respectively between October 2017 and October 2018. However, two thirds of this increase is due to the increase in world oil prices; only one third of the price increase comes from an environmental carbon tax increase. The tax increase had been 7.6 cents per litre on diesel and 3.9 cents on petrol in 2018, with a further increase of 6.5 cents on diesel and 2.9 cents on petrol planned for 1 January 2019.

The taxes collected on the sale of fuel are:

• the domestic consumption tax on energy products (TICPE). TICPE is not calculated based on the price of oil, but rather at a fixed rate by volume. Part of this tax, paid at the pump, goes to the regional governments, part goes to the national government. Since 2014, this tax has included a carbon component—increased each year—the goal of which is to reduce fossil-fuel consumption. The TICPE for diesel fuel has been raised more radically in 2017 and 2018 to bring to the same levels as the tax on petrol;
• value added tax (VAT), calculated on the sum of the price excluding tax and the amount of the TICPE. Its rate has been stable at 20% since 2014, after having been at 19.6% between 2000 and 2014.

This protest movement against fuel prices mainly concerns individuals, as a number of professions and activities benefit from partial or total exemptions from TICPE.

The protesters criticize Édouard Philippe's second government for making individuals support the bulk of the cost of the carbon tax. As the carbon tax has progressively been ramping up to meet ecological objectives, many who have chosen fossil-fuel based heating for their homes, outside of city centers—where a car is required—are displeased. President Macron attempted to dispel these concerns in early November by offering special subsidies and incentives.

Diesel prices in France have increased by 16% in 2018, with taxes on both petrol and diesel increasing at the same time and a further tax increase planned in 2019. Those increases made diesel as expensive as petrol. President Emmanuel Macron is bearing the brunt of the protestors' anger for his extension of policies implemented under François Hollande's government.

Other non-union protests

One of the first known demonstrations in France against the taxation of petrol prices dates back to 1933 in Lille. The movement against tax increases also evokes the "poujadism" of the 1950s, which mobilized the middle classes and was articulated around a tax revolt. "Slow-down movements" were also organized in the 1970s. In July 1992, such a movement was set up to protest against the introduction of the points-based permit.

Organization

One woman from Seine-et-Marne department started a petition on the change.org website in May 2018 that reached 300,000 signatures by mid-October. Parallel to this petition, two men from the same department launched a Facebook event for 17 November to "block all roads" and thus protest against an increase in fuel prices they considered excessive, stating that this increase was due to the increase in taxes. One of the viral videos around this group launched the idea of using yellow jackets. According to French scholar Béatrice Giblin, comparisons between the gilets jaunes and the Bonnets Rouges—who opposed a new eco-tax in 2013—were inapt because the latter "had been taken in hand by real leaders, such as the mayor of Carhaix, or the great bosses of Brittany" whereas that is not the case for the yellow jackets. The yellow jacket movement is not associated with a specific political party or trade union and has spread largely by social media.

Protests

17 November

The protests began on 17 November 2018, and attracted over 300,000 people across France, with protestors constructing barricades and blocking roads. According to John Lichfield, a journalist who witnessed the riots, those protests were not a protest, but an insurrection.

In addition to roads, protestors also blocked as many as 10 fuel depots. On this first day of protests, a 63-year old pensioner was run over by a motorist in Le Pont-de-Beauvoisin while she was demonstrating at the roundabout allowing access to a commercial zone. A motorcyclist died after being struck the same day by a van trying to get around a barricade. By 21 November, 585 civilians had been injured, sixteen severely, and 115 police officers, three seriously.

Protests also occurred in the French overseas region of Réunion [a French island in the middle of the Indian Ocean], where the situation deteriorated into looting and riots. Schools on the island were closed for three days due to protestors blocking access to roads. On 21 November, President Macron ordered the deployment of troops to the island to calm the violence.

24 November

The protests in Paris having raised tensions the week before, the Interior Ministry agreed to allow a gathering on 24 November at the Champ de Mars. On that day, protests attracted 106,000 people all across France according to the Interior Ministry, only 8,000 of whom in Paris, where the protests turned violent. Protestors lit fires in the streets, tore down signs, built barricades and pulled up cobblestones. Police resorted to tear gas and water cannons to disperse the protesters.

1 December "Act III”

A protest called "Act 3 - Macron quits" was organized for 1 December.

Traffic on the highway linking Marseilles to Paris (A6) was stopped north of Lyon through part of the 1-2 December weekend.

An 80-year-old woman died as a result of being hit in the face by a police tear gas canister in her home in Marseille. A second motorist died on the third weekend after crashing his van into stopped lorries at a barricade on the Arles bypass.

Urban property damage

On 26 November, an official estimated that the riots in Paris during the two previous days had cost up to €1.5m in damage, and had mobilised 200 additional workers to assist with the cleanup and repair work. More than 100 cars were burnt in Paris during the protest on 1 December, and the Arc de Triomphe was vandalised. On the Monday following the 1 December Paris riots, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo estimated the property damages at €3-€4m.

Outside of France

According to Kim Willsher of The Guardian, the gilets jaunes protest has inspired imitation in Italy. She cites an Italian organizer saying, "We are inspired by the French gilet jaunes, (...) But we are motivated by other issues. We, unlike the French, support our government. What we protest against is Europe. We want Europe to no longer interfere with Italian politics."

Riot police in Brussels were pelted with billiard balls, cobblestones, and rocks on 30 November, and responded with water cannon in demonstrations which led to 60 arrests for disturbing the public order. Several oil depots had been blocked in Wallonia as of 16 November 2018, though protesters' attempts to block the Russian Lukoil depot in Brussels were quickly thwarted by police. The movement is now working to form a party for the Belgian federal elections in 2019 under the name Mouvement citoyen belge. On 1 December, "yellow vest" demonstrators protested in the Dutch cities of The Hague, Nijmegen, Maastricht, Alkmaar, Leeuwarden and Groningen.

Reactions

In late November 2018, polls showed that the movement has widespread support in France (ranging from 73% to 84%). An opinion poll conducted after the 1 December events found that 72% of French people supported the "gilet jaunes" and that 85% were opposed to the violence in Paris.

Truckers have been targeted by protestors and the trucking industry has made their displeasure with the situation known to the government in an open letter.

The Minister of the Interior, Christophe Castaner, blamed Marine Le Pen, Macron's opponent in the 2017 presidential election, and her Rassemblement National party for the violence on 24 November after she had reportedly urged people to go to the Champs Élysées. Le Pen responded that letting these people assemble at Champs Élysées was the government's responsibility, accusing the Minister of the Interior of trying to ratchet up the tension to discredit the movement.

On 2 December, president Macron called an emergency security meeting following the previous day's protests, leading to speculation that he might reinstate the state of emergency.

                                   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_vests_movement