PARIS — French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu tried to put out several fires at once Wednesday, pledging to address protesting high school students’ concerns while also announcing the release of strategic fuel reserves to lower prices.
“The anger among young people didn’t come out of nowhere,” Lecornu said as he addressed the nation.
The center-right prime minister said his government’s first policy responses to protesters’ concerns — including run-down schools, a shortage of substitute teachers, and a desire for more manageable schedules — would come later this month. The government will consider submissions on a public platform set up Tuesday to allow students to voice their grievances.
On Tuesday, between 256,000 people, according to police, and 450,000, according to organizers, joined demonstrations across France. Unions, teachers and left-wing political parties took to the streets in solidarity with high school students.
But discontent in France extends beyond schools. A surge in fuel prices, triggered by the U.S.-led war in Iran, has added to concerns about the cost of living.
Online calls for a Yellow Jackets-style protest on Oct. 17 have emerged in response to rising fuel prices.
“Last Friday, [the G7] decided to release strategic [fuel] reserves… As part of this effort, we will make 10 million barrels of diesel from our reserves available to distributors in France,” Lecornu announced, claiming that the supply increase would lower diesel prices by €0.12 to €0.18 per liter.
France still has 8 million barrels of oil products to release under a wider deal brokered in March after the outbreak of the war in Iran, and had privately signaled Wednesday morning that it might release an additional 2 million barrels of diesel on top of that, as POLITICO reported earlier on Wednesday. It’s unclear whether the 10 million figure includes that earlier commitment.
The French energy ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Lecornu also reached out to French farmers, who have regularly protested in recent years to draw attention to the sector’s economic hardships. “Among those hardest hit by the accumulation of these crises are our farmers,” Lecornu said.
He said new measures to supplement an emergency bill for farmers, which already includes more than €1 billion in spending, would be unveiled Thursday.
Nicolas Camut contributed to this report.