SHOTLIST:

PARIS, FRANCE (DEC. 02, 2025) (ANADOLU - ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS GATHERING

2. CLOSE SHOT TO BANNER

3. VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS HOLDING BANNERS

4. VARIOUS OF DEMONSTRATORS MARCHING WITH BANNERS IN THEIR HANDS

5. VARIOUS OF SECURITY MEASURES BEING TAKEN PARIS, FRANCE - DECEMBER 02: Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in central Paris on Tuesday, December 2, joining a nationwide wave of rallies and strike actions against the French government’s draft finance bill for 2026.

Waving union flags and carrying placards denouncing “social cutbacks,” protesters marched through the capital to demand that lawmakers withdraw or radically rewrite the contested budget plan.

At the heart of the dispute is a draft budget that aims to bring France’s public deficit back under 5% of gross domestic product next year, in line with commitments to financial markets and European partners.

To do so, the government has proposed a fiscal package worth more than €30 billion, relying heavily on spending restraint combined with targeted tax increases. Ministers insist that the measures are necessary to stabilise public finances after years of pandemic-related support and energy-price shocks.

The political battle around the bill has intensified in recent weeks, after the lower house of parliament rejected its tax component, forcing the text to move to the Senate amid deep partisan divisions.

Opposition parties on the left have warned they could seek a no-confidence vote if President Emmanuel Macron’s minority government resorts to constitutional tools to push the budget through without a full vote.

The standoff comes on top of earlier clashes over wealth-tax proposals and welfare protections, fuelling a broader debate about who should pay for deficit reduction.

As senators begin their examination of the draft in the coming days, unions say Tuesday’s demonstrations are only a first step in a longer campaign to force changes to the 2026 finance bill.

Further strike calls are already under discussion, particularly in the public sector and transport, even though disruption to services remained limited in many areas during the latest protest.

The government, for its part, maintains that it will secure a final budget deal before the end of the year, but the turnout on the streets of Paris suggests that the fight over France’s next spending plan is far from over.