PARIS--French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire will meet retailers and insurers on Monday to assess the economic impact of nationwide protests against rising fuel costs, he said on Sunday.
Protesters clad in fluorescent jackets, dubbed "yellow vests", have blocked highways across France since Nov. 17, setting up burning barricades and deploying convoys of slow-moving trucks, often denying access to shopping centres and some factories.
French retailers have warned that prolonged protests could hit the Christmas shopping season and threaten jobs, while President Emmanuel Macron has shown no sign of backing down on taxes introduced last year on diesel and petrol to encourage people to switch to cleaner forms of transport. The unrest reached new heights in Paris on Saturday, when police clashed violently with thousands of demonstrators on the Champs-Elysees.
"Tomorrow I will bring together at the Economy and Finance Ministry representatives from retailers, merchants, craftsmen, chambers of commerce and employers federation Medef to assess the economic situation, its impact on sales and on our economy and the consequences we must draw," Le Maire told BFM TV.
Police detained 101 people in Paris and there 24 people were injured in the clashes on the Champs Elysees. "I saw a violence that is not acceptable. It is urgent to rebuild the nation's unity and restart a dialogue," Le Maire said.
Some yellow vests have called for a third weekend of protests on the Champs Elysees via a Facebook page called "Act 3 Macron resigns!"
President Emmanuel Macron thanked police forces for their" courage and professionalism" in dealing with demonstrators as calm progressively returned to the Champs Elysees. "Shame on those who attacked them ... There is no room for this violence in the Republic," Macron said on Twitter.
Protesters are opposed to taxes Macron introduced last year on diesel and petrol which are designed to encourage people to switch to cleaner forms of transport. Alongside the tax, the government has offered incentives to buy electric vehicles.
For more than a week, protesters clad in the fluorescent yellow jackets that all motorists in France must have in their cars have blocked highways across the country with burning barricades and convoys of slow-moving trucks, obstructing access to fuel depots, shopping centres and some factories.
Interior Minister Christophe Castaner accused far-right leader Marine Le Pen of fanning the protests in the capital. "Ultra-right networks were very mobilised on the Champs Elysees," he said. There were about 20 people injured on the Champs Elysees, according to police.
