Macron unveils 'rural action plan' including cheaper alcohol licenses in bid to win over Yellow Vests

David Chazan
Protesters walk past burning bins during an anti-government demonstration called by the Yellow Vests in Montpellier - AFP
Protesters walk past burning bins during an anti-government demonstration called by the Yellow Vests in Montpellier - AFP

Emmanuel Macron’s government sought to calm discontent in “left-behind” rural areas on Friday by announcing an “action plan” to improve public services in the countryside.

The French president was shaken by the extent of rural and small-town anger which exploded into weekly Yellow Vest protests during the winter and fears the grassroots revolt could flare up again this autumn.

Edouard Philippe, the prime minister, unveiled a series of measures to respond to the concerns of small communities, where many local shops and cafés have disappeared.

About a third of France’s 67 million people live in rural areas or small towns and many resent being forced to travel long distances to medical centres and public offices that have moved to larger communities.

The government is promising to speed up recruitment of doctors to serve small communities, improve care for old people in rural areas, protect local rail lines from closure and to help struggling village cafés that often serve as social centres by granting cheaper food and drinks licences.

Emmanuel Macron still needs to appease the Yellow Vest movement
Emmanuel Macron still needs to appease the Yellow Vest movement

The plan failed to win over critics, however, who accused the government of repackaging existing measures as new initiatives. The conservative newspaper Le Figaro commented that real action was needed, not just words.

Vanik Berberian, the independent mayor of Gargilesse-Dampierre in central France, said: “The state is finally starting to really understand the potential of rural areas, but this realisation is dulled by a centralist mentality.”

Mr Berberian, 64, the head of the national association of rural mayors, urged the central government to stop excluding mayors from decision-making.

The rural plan represents Mr Macron’s latest attempt to win over voters likely to be tempted by the far Right anti-immigration policies of Marine Le Pen.

This week he promised tougher action against bogus asylum-seekers, saying the government’s “humanist” approach to immigration was driving voters into the arms of the far Right.

Concerned about the threat of autumn strikes, Mr Macron has slowed the pace of business-friendly reforms, trying to shed his elitist image in favour of a gentler, more empathetic style. He is planning public consultations on pension reform proposals aimed at raising the average retirement age and ending preferential schemes for public-sector workers.