Straddling between Optimism and Mistrust

France’s Youth Doubts Reform Successes

22/11/2018 | by Julie Hamann, Sara Jakob

DGAPanalysis 7 (November 2018), 11 pp.

Category: Reform, France

For many young people in France, President Macron’s reforms failed to alleviate their social anxieties. Unemployment remains high, employment conditions precarious, and what started as a protest against new fuel taxes quickly spilled over to other reform areas including social policy. Macron will need to gain the youngsters’ trust ahead of the European Parliament election – not least because its outcome will decisively shape his domestic credibility, and consequently, his political fate.