What organization is the French yellow vest? Spontaneous organization?

Last weekend, nearly 300,000 people in France participated in the "yellow vest" fuel price protest, and the number of demonstration and assembly sites reached more than 2,000. According to the statistics of the French Ministry of the Interior, last Saturday, riots caused 1 deaths and hundreds of injuries. According to le figaro, there may be further protests on June 24th, 165438+ and thereafter. So what is the behind-the-scenes reason for this protest and what impact will it have on the French economy?

The French "Yellow Vest" protest movement is a spontaneous and unorganized movement, with no clear demands, but it has been strongly supported in rural areas. All this started with the rise in oil prices and gasoline prices caused by green taxes.

According to Zhitong Finance APP, in France, taxes and fees account for about 60% of gasoline prices. Consumers buy 1 liter gasoline, the price of crude oil accounts for 60 Euro cents, the transportation from refinery to gas station accounts for 10-20 Euro cents, the consumption tax on domestic energy products accounts for about 1 Euro cents, and finally there is a 20% value-added tax.

Protesters openly opposed Macron's green tax-which reached 55 billion euros during President Macron's term-because it directly limited their purchasing power. In fact, at present, the French consumer pressure index stands at the highest level since September 20 14 for the first time, which is mainly due to the increase of taxes and fees (social welfare tax, social security tax and tobacco and fuel tax) by the French government on June 20 1 last year.

The increase in taxes and fees greatly suppressed the consumption in France in the first quarter of 20 18. If the government does not delay the increase of green tax (originally scheduled to be implemented in the first quarter of 20 19), consumption will decrease again in the case of increasingly weak economy in the future (due to the slowdown of economic growth and the rise of oil prices).

But if the yellow vest movement is regarded as a protest against taxes, it is to turn a blind eye. The real problem behind it is the growing differentiation between urban and rural areas. In the past 40 years, France's public policies have mainly focused on five or six important central cities, completely abandoning the countryside. Rural residents can't enjoy public services, and the unemployment rate is rising, even in transportation.

Some analysts believe that the French government will pay a high price for not taking measures to solve these protests. The disconnect between the global urban residents and the abandoned rural residents is one of the main reasons for populism. These protesters are not fundamentally opposed to green taxes. They support ecological transformation, but when they have no money to spend before the end of the month, they can't afford to increase green taxes. Macron's concept of "entrepreneurial country" is not suitable for these rural people. What they want is to make a living by working and feel that they are still part of France. It is not clear whether the far right or the far left will win the support of these "yellow vests" in the future, but we can be sure that this is an important turning point in Macron's presidency.