France first night under targeted curfews passes calmly

And for more on this first night of curfews in Paris and other cities across France, I can welcome our international affairs editor, Philip Terrell. Good morning, Philip. These curfews are being hailed as a success by Sébastien Le Cornu. Were they broadly respected? Yeah, I think they were broadly respected, but you have to remember it was a Monday night. We're not right in the middle of the weekend. People have to go to work the next day. So there was less people willing to turn out to try to cause trouble than they would have done on a Friday or a Saturday night. So these curfews in Watanese, Lille, Douai, Denain, Paris, Nice, and also there were curfews imposed in the city of Lyon as well. Different sorts of curfews. The ones that Emmanuel Macron was just talking about were here in Paris between 9 and 6. That was a global curfew in two areas of the city, Place de la République and Châtelet-Léal, where there are many shops and offices and cafes. And many people had their livelihoods wrecked by looters last weekend. But in other areas of the country, particularly in the north, the curfew was just for minors, underage minors below the age of 18, which was quite hard to implement for many because that would engage them in controls, checks of people's IDs. but generally it seems to be quite well respected and I think the authorities are bearing in mind that they may have to re-impose curfews again tonight and maybe over the coming days. There's no firm news about that for the moment but there are calls from some on the right for even stricter measures, for example, for the country to be declared as a state of emergency and that there should be a global curfew over France in the evening. I don't think the government is ready to do that just now But I think what the government wants to avoid, and that is pretty certain, is it wants to avoid further fallout from these protests. We've already seen a fall probably in the amount of people coming to France. The view from overseas is pretty disastrous for the French or for France viewed by other countries. There is also a fall in the stock market yesterday as a result of these protests down 88.6 points. The government has announced it's going to have to put its hand in its pocket to come up with money to help all these businesses that have been pillaged and looted and livelihoods destroyed. It says that it's going to increase unemployment, partial unemployment benefit for people who've been made redundant as a result of the damage by 100 percent. And there's also going to be a special fund which is created to help shopkeepers. That's going to mean more money being spent from the French state coffers, which, of course, the French state doesn't have right now because it has a 3.3 trillion euro debt. Now, France is not the only country in Europe where protests are currently taking place. Is there any common denominator running through them all? Well, yes, there is. And this shows a growing number of countries facing the same problems. That's to say the cost of living, housing difficulties, trying to find somewhere to live. And when they do, being able to pay the rent or to pay for somewhere, to buy somewhere, which is for many people just too astronomical. Perceived government corruption, that is particularly the case in Albania right now, where there are calls for the prime minister to resign. There are many political demands which rioters say that they just don't see being met. And of course, the role of education, the education debate, which is the catalyst for these current protests here in France, seem to have been overtaken by these rioters who've been causing trouble around the streets. You have to remember that you have to put this into two categories. The protesters, some of whom we were just hearing from in that report, and they are basically protesting calmly and want their demands to be met. There is a legal right to protest in France. And then, of course, all these sporadic protests by those who just want to beat up the police and break into shops, which, of course, are unauthorized. So I think that is where we stand with all of this. But there have been protests, as I said, in Albania, but also in Italy. The interesting thing here about Italy is that it's a country run by the far right. Giorgia Meloni, who has said that she's going to clamp down on all those protests over poor public services and rising costs. Marine Le Pen wants to take over as prime minister and president of France in the next presidential elections. So it'll be interesting to see whether she will do a better job in trying to nip these protests in the bud in France if she takes power better than Giorgia Meloni has been doing in Italy. There are also protests in Belgium. There are protests in Spain and also in Portugal. all of this around the same demands basically for increased spending power for most people who feel that they just can't make ends meet anymore. And meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is out of the country. He's in the Gulf trying to find ways of alleviating France's fuel prices. Now, he has been criticised for maintaining this trip, though in fairness he did consider cancelling it. Was he right to go ahead? Well, there were two things that Emmanuel Macron has been criticised for one and was going to the Céline Dion concert here in Paris, right in the middle of the riots with his wife, Brigitte, many saying, well, you really couldn't shouldn't be doing that when you should be taking care of the riots and then taking himself and business leaders and other ministers on this visit to the Gulf nations. It's a visit that has been planned for many months already. There is some good news. The Elysee Palace says that Emmanuel Macron secured 200,000 tons of extra diesel fuel from the UAE and from Bahrain, that's 100,000 tonnes from each country, that's already on top of a 295,000-tonne agreement from Saudi Arabia, even though Emmanuel Macron's not going to Saudi Arabia during this trip due to the insecurity there caused by Houthi rebels. That all, all in all, accounts for about 10% of France's consumption. So that is good news. There's also the agreement earlier this month by the G7 countries to draw up 100 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves to ease pressure on the petrol pumps and also on heating bills. So the French president says, well, I am going out there in the interest of the French people to try to obtain an increase in fuel supplies and to bring down the prices and to negotiate also to try to alleviate the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, taking him to Kuwait, the UAE, to Qatar and also Bahrain. I think that that is the message coming out of the Elysee Palace. One thing is sure, though, and that is that Emmanuel Macron is basically a lame duck president here in France right now. He's six months away from the end of his mandate. He can't run again for a new term in president. He's vastly disliked by the majority of French people. I think he sees himself more as someone who's able to shore up support on the international front rather than deal with domestic problems, which he's put into the hands of his prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, and into the hands of the interior minister as well. So I think that is the way that Emmanuel Macron is thinking. He wants to come back with some positive news for French consumers, saying, well, I've been out there and there is something for us to be pleased about, and that is that there will be a gradual reduction in fuel costs in this country. Thank you very much for that. Our international affairs editor, Philippe Charles.