Five years to the day after the ecotax fiasco, the “yellow vests” want to roll back the Philippe government.
The first snail operation took place in Haute-Savoie on Monday October 29th. Organized by transport and construction companies in the region, mobilization brought together 50 trucks, slowing traffic on several important axes in the region for a few hours, says Le Dauphine Libere.
For several days there have been repeated on social networks and in the media the cries of indignation and concern over the fate reserved to the purchasing power of the French, truncated by the rise of the CSG and abused by the increase in price fuels. If the government says it is taking an “ambitious” decision, bringing the rise in taxes back to the fight for the energy transition, voices are rising and initiatives are multiplying.
A petition against the rise of fuels has more than 500,000 signatories. Launched in May by an exhausted motorist, the text has seen a sharp rise in the number of signatories in recent hours.
Scattered mobilizations according to several models, which are added to the call for a national blocking day on November 17th.
More than 200 gatherings planned in France
To say “stop the rise of fuels” according to the motto of this mobilization, Internet users call to put their yellow safety vest – mandatory in every car – prominently on their windshield, as do the users here -Dessous.
The new red caps?
What revive the specter of red caps and make the Philip government fear the same fiasco had experienced Francois Hollande and Ségolène Royal with the ecotax?
Five years ago almost to the day, the mobilization of several thousand workers, sailors, farmers, artisans, small and large Breton bosses had destroyed, literally and figuratively, one of the leading provisions of the Dutch Mandate on the energy transition aimed at taxing 800,000 lorries on the non-paying network.
As for the yellow vests with reflective fabrics, the mobilization had its source in a general loaf on taxes. Born in Brittany, the movement had then won the whole territory. Many radars and eco-tax terminals had been destroyed in all corners of France despite the government’s stated determination to impose its device.
This is another point in common with the current situation. As anger rises in the country, majority leaders take turns in the media to forcefully assume this “ambitious policy choice.” After the interview of Gerald Darmanin Sunday, October 28 in the JDD, deputies and ministers defend the government’s decision in block and ensure that it will go to the end, especially to promote the energy transition.
But despite these similarities, the movement of yellow vests with reflective tapes is still far from the wave of red caps. Born on social networks, mobilization will have to be structured to have repercussions beyond social networks. She will not be able to weld around the Breton identity as the red caps did. The latter were also supported by numerous trade union organizations, professional branches and elected representatives of the region. This is not yet the case of “yellow vests”. In particular, truck drivers and their great nuisance power played a decisive role in the conflict.
The organizers of the first block in Haute-Savoie on Monday 29 did not indicate whether they would take part in the next blockages, simply explaining that their movement “is different” from the citizen mobilization that concerns “all motorists.”
Will the outrage find an echo on the ground? First answers on November 17th.