The yellow vest movement (French: Mouvement des gilets jaunes, pronounced [muvmɑ̃ de ʒilɛ ʒon]) refers to those involved in a series of populist, grassroots weekly protests in France that began on 17 November 2018 and ended on 28 June 2020.
After an online petition posted in May 2018 had attracted nearly one million signatures, mass demonstrations began on 17 November. The movement was prompted by rising crude oil and fuel prices, a high cost of living, and economic inequality. The movement argued that a disproportionate burden of taxation in France was falling on the working and middle classes, especially in rural and peri-urban areas. The protesters called for lower fuel taxes, a reintroduction of the solidarity tax on wealth and a minimum wage increase, among other things. On 29 November 2018, a list of 42 demands was made public and went viral on social media, becoming a de facto structuring basis for the movement. The demands covered a wide range of topics, mostly related to democracy and social and fiscal justice. Some demanded the resignation of President Emmanuel Macron. The protests were marred by violence between different groups (far right and black bloc) and significant property damage, which in turn led to police repression. Participation in the weekly protests diminished and eventually ended entirely due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, although minor protests continued after health restrictions were lifted.
The movement was supported primarily by populists on both sides of the political spectrum, but rarely by moderates. According to one poll, few of those protesting had voted for Macron in the 2017 presidential election; many had shown political alienation by not voting, or had voted for far-right or far-left candidates. Support for the movement reached a high of 75% in favour at its beginning, with even higher numbers in rural and peri-urban areas. Yellow high-visibility vests, which French law requires all drivers to have in their vehicles and to wear outside their vehicle during emergency situations, were chosen as "a unifying thread and call to arms" because of their convenience, visibility, ubiquity, and association with working-class industries. The protests involved demonstrations and the blocking of roads and fuel depots, sometimes developing into major riots, described as the most violent since May 68. The police action, resulting in multiple incidents of loss of limb, was criticized by politicians and international media, particularly in relation to the use of blast balls. About 3 million people participated in the movement and the yellow vest was adopted as a protest symbol around the world.
In September and October 2026, the Yellow vests protests would see a resurgence following rising fuel prices, and as part of the 2026 French Student protests.
Background
The issue on which the French movement was initially focused was the projected 2019 increase in fuel taxes, particularly on diesel fuel. The yellow vest was an accessible symbol, because from 2008 all French drivers were required to have one in their vehicles.
General discontentment
Already low in early 2018 (47% approval in January 2018), French President Emmanuel Macron's approval rating had dipped below 25% at the beginning of the movement. The government's method of curbing the budget deficit had proven unpopular, with Macron being dubbed président des très riches ("president of the very rich") by his former boss François Hollande.
Late in June 2017, Macron's Minister of Justice, François Bayrou, came under pressure to resign, due to the ongoing investigation into the financial arrangements of the political party (MoDem) he leads. During a radio interview in August 2018, Nicolas Hulot had resigned from the Ministry of the Environment, without telling either the President or the Prime Minister of his plans to do so. Criticized for his role in the Benalla affair, Gérard Collomb tried to resign in October 2018 as Minister of the Interior—leaving himself with only two jobs, as a senator and mayor of Lyon—but saw his resignation initially refused, then finally accepted.
Diesel
In the 1950s, diesel engines were used only in heavy equipment. To help sell off the surpluses in French refineries, the state created a favorable tax regime to encourage motorists and manufacturers to use diesel. The 1979 oil crisis prompted efforts to curb petrol (gasoline) use, while taking advantage of diesel fuel availability and diesel engine efficiency. The French manufacturer Peugeot has been at the forefront of diesel technology, and from the 1980s, the French government favored this technology. A reduction in VAT taxes for corporate fleets also increased the prevalence of diesel cars in France. In 2015, two out of every three cars purchased consumed diesel fuel.
Fuel prices
The price of petrol (SP95-E10) decreased during 2018, from €1.47 per liter (USD $6.57/gallon) in January to €1.43 per liter (USD $6.40/gallon) in the last week of November.
Prices of petrol and diesel fuel increased by 15 percent and 23 percent (%), respectively, between October 2017 and October 2018. The world market purchase price of petrol for distributors increased by 28 per cent over the previous year; for diesel, by 35 percent (%). Costs of distribution increased by 40 percent (%). VAT included, diesel taxes increased by 14 per cent over one year and petrol taxes by 7.5 percent (%). 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 sales of fuel are:
- The domestic consumption tax on energy products (TICPE, la Taxe intérieure de consommation sur les produits énergétiques), which 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 regional governments, while another portion goes to the national government. Since 2014, this tax has included a carbon component—increased each year—in an effort to reduce fossil fuel consumption. The TICPE for diesel fuel was raised sharply in 2017 and 2018 to bring it to the same level as the tax on petrol.
- Value added tax (VAT), calculated on the sum of the price excluding tax and the TICPE. Its rate has been stable at 20 percent (%) since 2014, after having been at 19.6 percent (%) between 2000 and 2014.
The protest movement against fuel prices mainly concerns individuals, as a number of professions and activities benefit from partial or total exemptions from TICPE.
Though allegedly pro-climate, the protesters criticized Édouard Philippe's second government for burdening households with the bulk of the carbon tax, while offering exemptions to many carbon-intensive companies. As the carbon tax had progressively been ramping up to meet ecological objectives, many who had chosen fossil fuel-based heating for their homes, outside of the city center where a car is required, were displeased. President Macron attempted to dispel these concerns in early November by offering special subsidies and incentives.
Diesel prices in France increased by 16 per cent in 2018, with taxes on both petrol and diesel increasing at the same time. A further tax increase was planned for 2019, making diesel as expensive as petrol. President Macron bore the brunt of the protesters' anger for his extension of policies implemented under François Hollande's government.
Speed limit reduction
The government decided in 2017 to cut the speed limit on country roads from 90 to 80 km/h (50 mph) as of 1 July 2018 with the aim being to save 200 lives each year, after research found that "excessive or unsuitable" speed was involved in a third of fatal road accidents. The change was opposed and was a factor in the rise of the yellow vest movement. It was seen as another tax via citations and a failure to understand the needs of rural residents who are totally reliant on their cars. Vandalism of traffic enforcement cameras grew significantly after the yellow vest movement began.
Sparked by claims that the fuel tax was intended to finance tax cuts for big business (a characterization that French President Emmanuel Macron has objected to, stating that the fuel tax was intended to discourage fossil fuel use as a way to combat climate change) and including many people motivated by economic difficulties due to low salaries and high energy prices, the yellow vests movement has called for redistributive economic policies like a wealth tax, increased pensions, a higher minimum wage, and reduced salaries for politicians. While some commentators have claimed that the movement was a backlash to policies meant to combat climate change, a communique released by the movement calls for a "real ecological policy", including fuel and kerosene taxes for ships and airplanes, but objects to policies like the gas tax that hit the poor and working class most heavily.
Yellow vest symbol
How the high-visibility yellow vest came to be the symbol and uniform for the movement is not known, and no one has claimed to be its originator. The movement originated with French motorists from rural areas who had long commutes protesting against an increase in fuel taxes, wearing the yellow vests that, under a 2008 French law, all motorists are required to keep in their vehicles and wear in the case of an emergency. The symbol has become "a unifying thread and call to arms" as yellow vests are common and inexpensive, easy to wear over any clothing, are associated with working-class industries, highly noticeable, and widely understood as a distress signal. As the movement grew to include grievances beyond fuel taxes, non-motorists in France put on yellow vests and joined the demonstrations, as did protesters in other countries with diverse (and sometimes conflicting) grievances of their own. One commentator wrote that "the uniform of this revolution is as accessible as the frustration and fury."
Origin
Éric Drouet and a businesswoman named Priscillia Ludosky from the Seine-et-Marne department started a petition on the change.org website in May 2018 that had reached 300,000 signatures by mid-October and close to 1 million a month later. 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 the result of the tax increase. The idea of using yellow jackets originally came from this group.
The movement was organized in a leaderless, horizontal fashion. Informal leaders emerged, some of whom were rejected by other demonstrators and even threatened. According to John Lichfield, some in the movement extend their hatred of politicians even to any "would-be politicians who emerge from their own ranks". The yellow jacket movement was not associated with a specific political party or trade union and spread primarily on social media.
The yellow vests movement has been described as a populist, grassroots movement for economic justice, which opposed what it perceived as the wealthy urban elite and the establishment. Many of the protesters lived in tight financial circumstances, often in rural or outer-urban areas where there was "weak economic growth and high unemployment", and where a vehicle was "essential, and increasingly costly". According to the BBC, "It's no accident that cars were the spark that ignited this anger. Not needing one has become a status symbol in France. Those in city centers have a wealth of public transport to choose from, but you need to be rich enough to live in the center of Paris or Marseille or Bordeaux".
The movement drew supporters from across the political spectrum. An opinion poll published by the Elabe Institute showed that in the presidential election in May 2017, 36% of the participants had voted for far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and 28% for far-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Five Le Monde journalists studied the yellow vests' forty-two directives and concluded that two thirds were "very close" to the position of the "radical left" (Mélenchon, Philippe Poutou and Nathalie Arthaud), nearly half were "compatible with" the position of the "far right" (Nicolas Dupont-Aignan and Marine Le Pen), and that all were "very far removed" from economically "liberal" policies (Emmanuel Macron and François Fillon). Étienne Girard, writing for Marianne, said that the one figure with wide support in the movement had been dead for thirty-two years: the former humorist and presidential candidate Coluche.
Some media outlets were shocked at the hostility they felt from the very beginning of the yellow vest mobilization. The media had been largely supportive of Emmanuel Macron's government since before his election. This unyielding support of his policies was widely cited by the yellow vests' as the main cause of this violence. Multiple verbal and physical attacks perpetrated by yellow vests against journalists have been reported and documented throughout the movement. For example, in Rouen during the Acte IX, LCI, television reporters were attacked by a group of protesters, thrown to the ground and beaten. The same day, a reporter for the local newspaper La Dépêche du Midi was threatened by yellow vest protesters in Toulouse who told her "we'll take you out of your car and rape you". On 19 November, a BFMTV crew was forced to abandon a protest in the Bordeaux region because they were targeted by protesters who not only hurled insults but also threw stones and beer cans at them. In parallel, many comments and photomontages expressing hatred towards journalists as a whole circulated on "yellow vest" Facebook pages. In December, the level of threats and attacks was such that more and more news organizations decided that every reporter they sent out should be accompanied by a bodyguard, because of the strong aversion the yellow jackets had shown toward journalists and media. A month later, 25 yellow vests prevented Ouest-France from being delivered in parts of the Vendée and Loire-Atlantique because they did not like an editorial. Protesters had also blocked the printing center of the L'Yonne Republicaine newspaper and prevented the newspaper la Voix du Nord from being distributed.
International media also reported on the disproportionate violence the French police deployed against the protestors, including the use of explosive grenades and flashball weapons resulting in multiple incidents of loss of limb and sight by the protestors.