Protests in France Point to a Winter of Discontent Across Europe
The European Union’s 27 leaders gathered for a summit today in Brussels, where they are locked in a heated discussion about Europe’s energy crisis that is expected to last late into the night. But as they try to hammer out an agreement, all of them—particularly French President Emmanuel Macron—are also keeping a nervous eye on the protests and industrial strikes brewing in France, desperate to avert a winter of energy shortages, soaring living costs and broader discontent that could easily tip over into widespread civil unrest.
This week, several thousand demonstrators took to the streets of Paris, clashing with police and breaking shop windows in scenes reminiscent of the Yellow Vest protests that broke out four years ago. That movement initially gave voice to anger over a controversial fuel tax hike, but later expanded to include broader issues of economic justice and political reform. The latest strikes started at oil refineries, but have since spread to include organized labor from other industries, including transit workers. Their common theme is a demand for pay increases and other improvements to working conditions to keep up with growing inflation and the rising cost of living. Similar protests have been seen elsewhere in Europe, including Belgium and Czech Republic.
Yesterday, EU leaders met with labor union leaders in Brussels at the Tripartite Social Summit to discuss the energy crisis and the cost-of-living crisis. “We already had a drop in real wages before the war,” said Luca Visenti, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation, at a press conference after the summit. “Millions of people across Europe are struggling to afford food, heating and transport as a result of profiteering, particularly by energy companies, on the supply bottlenecks created by the war,” he added. Visenti also warned that the cost-of-living crisis is putting many jobs at risk as rising energy prices force industries to scale back production.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged to take these concerns into consideration and present them to EU leaders at today’s summit. “The increased cost of living is weighing on households that are already under strain,” she acknowledged, while insisting that the new measures put forward by the commission this week will ease the burden on EU member states’ citizens. “We need everyone on board and social partners play a key role.”
But there is no consensus inside the EU either on the energy crisis or on other urgent issues, given the disagreements among its member states over what solutions will be the most effective in tackling these myriad challenges. Visenti called for a cap to be set on the price of natural gas imported into the EU, as proposed by a slight majority of 15 member states. But northern members like Germany and the Netherlands are deeply opposed to such a measure. They are also skeptical of the idea of taking out more collective EU debt to fund a European energy crisis recovery fund, as suggested by France, Italy and Spain. The two proposals have opened up a now-familiar North-South divide within the union, as happened a decade ago during the eurozone debt crisis.
Many EU leaders are also furious with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for unilaterally announcing a 200-billion-euro energy bailout for German households and industry without consulting other bloc members, which they argue will create distortions in the EU energy market because of its size. EU leaders will consider a proposal at today’s meeting to sign up to a solidarity mechanism that would require their countries to send gas to neighboring EU member states if the need arises. Germany could very well be one such country in need, though, leading many in the union to question why they should bail out Berlin, which opted for its national energy package while opposing a collective EU-wide effort.
The EU’s southern leaders are now warning that Europe will pay a heavier price down the line through widespread civil unrest if it doesn’t make the tough but necessary choices needed to resolve these issues. In all likelihood that unrest won’t be limited to Europe’s south, but whether their northern colleagues will choose to respond with the needed urgency remains to be seen.