France Braces for Third Weekend of Cost-of-Living Protests as Youth Rallies Spread Across Europe
France deploys 70,000 police as youth-led protests over living costs and education enter a third weekend, with similar demonstrations emerging in Germany and other European countries.
France is preparing for a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations over the cost of living and education, with authorities deploying 70,000 police and gendarmes nationwide and routing the main Paris march along the capital's outer boulevards rather than through the city center. Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned of a "very high risk" of disorder, particularly after nightfall on Halloween.
Paris police barred union and yellow vest marches from the city center on Friday, ordering a single approved route from Porte de Bagnolet to Porte de Charenton. Unions and student groups have challenged the restrictions in court. President Emmanuel Macron said earlier in the week that marches would be kept out of central areas to protect shops, and police also blocked access to Place de la Republique and Les Halles—both scenes of rioting and looting on October 17—between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday nights.
A separate 9 p.m. curfew for unaccompanied minors around the Champs-Elysees remains in effect, although a Paris court on Wednesday suspended an earlier curfew on minors, ruling it a serious and illegal infringement of freedom of movement.
The movement began with high school students protesting school conditions before broadening into wider anger over living costs. Authorities counted about 550,000 marchers on October 17, when rioters looted hundreds of shops, and 410,000 last Saturday, when protests were largely peaceful but police made more than 1,300 arrests.
The unrest is not confined to France. In Germany, a youth initiative called "Gen Z regelt"—roughly translated as "Gen Z's got this"—has called for protests in some 30 cities under the banner of education, health, climate protection and an affordable life, and against any return of military conscription. Organizers said more than 140,000 people signed up online.
The spread of youth-led rallies across Europe signals growing pressure on governments over living costs and education policy, with authorities in several countries balancing citizens' right to assemble against public safety and property protection concerns.
