The riots in France are a warning to Europe

Affected by the French police shooting of young people, riots have continued to occur in multiple cities across the country in the past week, with numerous municipal facilities, police stations, schools, and businesses being attacked. At present, although the riots have gradually subsided, the reflection triggered by the incident is still ongoing.

Why did this incident "ignite" public sentiment in France? As a major European country, why does France repeatedly engage in street violence? Experts point out that behind the riots, there are both immigration governance issues and deep-seated contradictions in the socio-economic development of France and Europe. To maintain social stability and order, French and European societies still need to solve long-term development challenges.

Reshaping riots on the streets

On June 27th, in the city of Nantes in the Haute Seine department in the suburbs of Paris, France, a police officer stopped a car and opened fire, resulting in the death of a 17-year-old North African teenager driving. Starting from the evening of June 28th, riots of varying degrees broke out in several cities in France, including Paris, Lyon, and Marseille, triggered by this incident. Some protesters engaged in fierce clashes with the police. Violent attacks and arsons targeting city halls, police stations, and schools have occurred in multiple cities.

According to data from the French Ministry of the Interior, on the evening of July 1st alone, 871 fires occurred throughout France, with 577 cars and 74 buildings burned down, 45 police officers and gendarmes injured, and two police officers were shot. According to Agence France Presse, as of July 4th, about 220 towns across France have been affected by the riots.

The violent incident has seriously affected public transportation in France. The Transport Union of the Î le de France stated that the riots caused at least 20 million euros in damage to public transportation in the Greater Paris region. 39 buses were burned down, and some sections of the tram tracks were destroyed.

The "smashing and looting" that took advantage of the chaos also resulted in serious property damage. The French Enterprise Federation stated that preliminary estimates indicate that over 200 commercial entities have been looted, 300 bank branches have been burned down, and 250 tobacco specialty stores have been destroyed throughout France. The losses across the entire legal framework may exceed 1 billion euros.

The riots in France also affected neighboring countries such as Belgium and Switzerland. On June 30th, Belgian police announced the arrest of over 100 young people involved in the riots in Brussels, many of whom were armed. According to Swiss media reports, there have been riots in Lausanne, Switzerland recently at night, with about 100 people being incited by online information to attack shops and police. The police arrested 7 people, including 6 teenagers.

The riot situation tended to ease after July 3rd. On July 4th, French President Macron stated that the "peak period" of unrest has passed, but caution is still needed in the coming weeks. At present, the French police are still maintaining a large number of police deployments throughout the country, maintaining high vigilance in areas where riots may erupt. Some areas of the island of France have also extended the curfew.

Previously, similar riots had occurred in France. In November 2005, during the pursuit of six teenagers by French police in the suburbs of Paris, two North African youths died. The incident triggered a nationwide riot that lasted for three weeks. Statistics show that there were a total of 123 incidents of racism themed violence in France that year, and the following year it reached 2285.

In addition, in recent years, during legal strikes and marches organized by French trade unions, some individuals have taken advantage of the chaos to incite violent incidents. The "stand up at night" demonstration in March 2016 escalated into serious violent conflicts in many parts of France; In November 2019, during the cross industry strike in France, some people took advantage of the chaos and smashed shops and set fire to cars.

Expose governance challenges

During the riot, the North African identity of the young man drew attention. In addition, according to data from the French Ministry of Justice, many of the 3915 people arrested since June 30th are young people from immigrant communities. Analysis indicates that this incident, similar to the 2005 French riots, reflects the long-standing issues of immigration governance and integration in France.

"Although the French Constitution stipulates that all citizens of the French Republic have equal rights regardless of their origin, race, or religious beliefs, some people with immigrant backgrounds still face discrimination and injustice in their daily lives," the Associated Press reported.

The website of the Spanish newspaper El Pais reported that the social identity situation in France has "deteriorated". Immigrants and their descendants have become excluded classes.

Yang Chengyu, Associate Researcher at the European Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stated in an interview with our reporter that the immigration issue in France has a long history. After World War II, due to labor shortages, European countries such as France adopted policies to encourage immigration and introduced a large number of immigrants from other countries and regions. These foreign immigrants and their descendants often engage in labor-intensive, low skilled jobs, and have long been at the bottom of society. Since the late 1970s, as the French economy slowed down and labor surplus led to a decrease in the French society's ability to absorb immigrants, immigrants and their descendants became a burden on society, suffering from unemployment and poverty, and further becoming marginalized groups.

The immigration issue has raised challenges in urban governance and resource allocation. Yang Chengyu stated that in order to accommodate a large number of immigrant populations, the French government built a large number of houses in the suburbs of cities in the 1950s and 1960s, forming relatively closed immigrant neighborhoods, further causing a disconnect between immigrants and mainstream French society, and exacerbating the separatist tendencies of this group.

Zhao Yongsheng, director of the French Economic Research Center at the University of International Business and Economics, told our reporter that the location of the riot was in a "sensitive area" on the outskirts of Paris. For many years, this place has not only been a gathering place for foreign immigrants and ethnic minorities, but has also become synonymous with backward public facilities and scarce educational resources. For decades, although the French government has invested a large amount of funds in renovating residential areas in immigrant neighborhoods, its neglect of education and labor skills development for immigrants and their descendants has resulted in this group having difficulty obtaining equal development opportunities in education and employment. Many young people from ethnic minorities are increasingly feeling unappreciated by mainstream society, and their suppressed emotions are accumulating over time.

In addition to immigration issues, the large-scale riots also reflect the dissatisfaction of the French people with the current development situation.

According to the forecast of the French central bank, the French economy is expected to slow down significantly this year, with a full year GDP growth of 0.7%, below 1%. The data recently released by S&P Global also showed a significant decline in France's service and manufacturing industries in the second quarter, indicating that the French economy may experience contraction.

Yang Chengyu said that in recent years, the economy of European countries, including France, has been under continuous pressure due to factors such as the COVID-19 epidemic and geopolitical conflicts. The high inflation and contraction of external demand have also made France's low growth rate and high cost of living more prominent.

"Faced with weak economic growth, French people generally hold a negative and pessimistic attitude towards the future. At the same time, France's high welfare system occupies a large amount of public financial resources, bringing a heavy burden to the country's economic development. The high taxation caused by high welfare and the emergence of 'lazy people' have continued to ferment public dissatisfaction. Therefore, after the outbreak of this incident, it quickly became the fuse that 'ignited' social emotions," said Yang Chengyu.

The difficulties faced by France reflect common issues in European society. Zhao Yongsheng stated that currently, European countries are generally facing issues of immigration and refugee resettlement and integration, and the issue of isolation between different ethnic groups is becoming increasingly prominent. Due to financial pressure, internal disagreements, and the rise of right-wing populist forces, European countries generally have limited willingness and ability to accept immigrants and refugees. Against the backdrop of regional conflicts, immigration and refugee issues continue to plague Europe.

Zhao Yongsheng analyzed that the riots were also deeply related to the background of industrial restructuring in Europe. Affected by the energy crisis, many energy intensive enterprises in Europe have had to reduce production or transfer production capacity, leading to the outflow of manufacturing from Europe. The friction between the United States and Europe over tax cuts and energy subsidies has further intensified the trend of "deindustrialization" in Europe. Due to many immigrants engaging in industrial production, the wave of "deindustrialization" has increased immigrant unemployment and brought unstable factors to European society. At the same time, Europe is accelerating the pace of digital economy transformation, and profound changes are taking place in production and lifestyle. For immigrant groups lacking educational resources and skill enhancement pathways, a single welfare allowance is difficult to enhance their labor skills and social adaptability.

"Currently, Europe is experiencing an unstable period: increasing economic downward pressure, further exacerbating fragmented issues such as political polarization, immigration issues, and refugee crises, and difficulties in social governance. Against this backdrop, social dissatisfaction continues to accumulate and eventually erupts through public events," said Zhao Yongsheng.

Difficult to solve in the short term

Currently, France is conducting a loss assessment of the riots. According to a report by French commercial FM television, the French government is considering providing support to damaged companies, or allowing them to cancel or delay payment of social security and taxes, and extend the time limit for companies to declare insurance claims. French Minister of Economy Le Mer stated that these measures involve affected enterprises nationwide, especially 250 tobacco specialty stores, 300 bank branches, 200 supermarket stores, fast food restaurants, and small clothing stores. The French government has also promised to provide financial assistance to cities affected by the riots for repairing roads, municipal facilities, and schools.

However, in the context of economic weakness and high debt, the implementation of various expenditures still needs to be observed. The Daily Telegraph of the UK reported that France is one of the countries with the largest structural deficit among European countries, with its total debt accounting for 112% of GDP, while the UK has 100% and Germany has 67%. It is expected that this debt ratio will continue to rise in the next 10 years. This time, France has proposed using fiscal expenditure to "spend money on disaster relief", which may be quite challenging.

Yang Chengyu stated that in the short term, if France wants to restore social stability and order, it needs to continuously adjust its immigration policies, govern separatism, promote "republic values" in immigrant communities, enhance consensus, and promote the integration of foreign immigrants. But in the long run, to solve deep-seated contradictions, European society still needs to continuously promote economic growth, expand the economic "cake", and promote the rational allocation of resources. However, facing the multiple challenges of economic recovery, France has yet to come up with a strong plan.

At present, the French riots have attracted widespread attention at the European level. According to Reuters, German Chancellor Scholz recently expressed "concern" about the riots in France. Polish Prime Minister Moravitsky recently reiterated his desire for European security on social media and mentioned border control issues in Europe. Italian Interior Ministry officials bluntly stated that the riots in France are a warning to Europe.

Zhao Yongsheng stated that solving development problems and expanding the economic "cake" depends on the coordinated efforts of Europe.

"The riots in France have exposed common problems in European social governance. The approach to solving these problems cannot be 'head wrenching, foot wrenching, and foot wrenching', nor can we act independently. The spillover of the situation in this riot incident has fully proved this. Within the EU system, adjustments to regulations and social policies cannot be completed by countries themselves. In order to properly respond to various economic and social challenges, it is necessary for the EU to strengthen the coordination mechanism at the political, economic, and legal levels, and strengthen joint governance. This will be a long-term systematic project that cannot be achieved overnight." Zhao Yongsheng said.

The riots in France are a warning to Europe

Source | People's Daily Overseas Edition