Overview

• Authorities counted about 500,000 demonstrators nationwide on 18 September, the CGT claimed over one million, and police deployed 80,000 officers with roughly 300 arrests and brief teargas use in several cities.
• Protest actions included a short incursion into the Finance Ministry in Paris and a reported water-supply sabotage in Martinique, while transport, schools and pharmacies saw wide disruptions and EDF cut nuclear output by 1.1 GW.
• New Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, whose two predecessors fell to budget defeats, is drafting the 2026 plan due to Parliament by early October and seeks Socialist support after dropping a proposal to eliminate two holidays.
• The Socialist-backed ‘taxa Zucman’ would levy 2% annually on wealth above €100 million, is touted by its author to raise up to €20 billion, draws 86% support in an Ifop poll, and faces rejection from right-wing allies, the far right and MEDEF, which calls it expropriation.
• Economists and legal experts warn the measure may yield far less, spur wealthy flight and face constitutional hurdles, while startup leaders caution it could force founders to sell shares to pay the levy.