French President Emmanuel Macron has retreated from his earlier criticism of student-led demonstrations, emphasizing that protesting is a “constitutional right” while acknowledging state security shortcomings and delays in government responses to high schoolers’ demands regarding education and the cost of living, hani.co.kr reported.
The shift follows weeks of intense friction across France, where protests sparked by deteriorating educational infrastructure and soaring inflation escalated into broader societal unrest. Earlier this week, hani.co.kr noted that President Macron faced widespread criticism for dismissing the legitimacy of protests organized outside traditional trade unions, declaring on October 22 that demands from those with “no legitimacy whatsoever” would be banned.
By October 26, during a visit to Marseille where heavy looting and property damage had occurred, the French leader changed his tone. He admitted to journalists that there was a “matter of timing and speed” in the government’s response and conceded that police forces were initially insufficient because authorities failed to anticipate the scale of the disruption, hani.co.kr and yna.co.kr reported. yna.co.kr added that the president blamed social media for damaging democracy by fueling radicalization, while Interior Minister Laurent Nunez noted that approximately 1,435 people had been arrested over the weekend, alongside emerging confrontations between far-left and far-right groups.
To quell the mounting anger, the French government unveiled a series of concessions. Highlighting these measures, hani.co.kr and ytn.co.kr reported that the government announced plans to effectively scrap the contentious online university admissions platform, Parcoursup, replacing it with a new system by 2028. Students have long criticized the platform for opaque selection criteria and unequal educational opportunities.
Additional state commitments focus on infrastructure and financial aid. According to ytn.co.kr, the government promised to inject 4 billion euros into middle and high school facility renovations by 2030, hire 3,600 new teachers while scrapping a planned reduction of 800 posts, and cap high school class sizes at 28 students. Furthermore, university capacities will expand by 15,000 slots between 2027 and 2028, and student grants will index to inflation, hani.co.kr and ytn.co.kr reported.
| Concession / Measure | Government Proposal | Student / Union Response |
|---|---|---|
| Admissions System | Scrap Parcoursup for a new platform by 2028; increase transparency in the interim. | Viewed as too slow to implement; falls outside current administration’s term. |
| School Infrastructure | Invest 4 billion euros into secondary school renovations by 2030. | Considered insufficient against deep-rooted neglect. |
| University Expansion | Increase higher education capacity by 15,000 slots between 2027–2028. | Significantly short of the 250,000 slots demanded by student groups, dismissed as mere “crumbs” by student leader Clément Vieille. |
Despite these concessions, student leaders remain unsatisfied. Student representative Clément Vieille dismissed the proposals as receiving merely “crumbs” compared to what was demanded, hani.co.kr reported. ytn.co.kr noted that student organizations intend to maintain pressure by pressing ahead with further demonstrations.
The unrest is not confined to French borders. As news.kbs.co.kr reported, similar frustrations over inflation and public services have rippled across Europe, with protesters in Rome breaching the historic Colosseum amid mounting economic strain. With further domestic demonstrations scheduled in France, the government faces a narrow window to restore calm.
