# French Police Fire Tear Gas as Protests Spread After the National Assembly Rejects the 2027 Budget

Teaching and research unions have called a strike for Tuesday, Nov. 10, while the government seeks €54 billion in savings to narrow the deficit.

- Published: 2026-11-08T05:20:24.935Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/2026-11-08/french-police-fire-tear-gas-as-protests-spread-after-the-nat
- Publisher: Polylog (Global desk)
- Section: world
- Sources: [RT](https://rt-english.com/news/648561-paris-protest-tear-gas/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS), [BFM.ru](https://www.bfm.ru/news/623203)

France's fiscal consolidation is meeting resistance both in the streets and in parliament. On Saturday, riot police in Paris [fired tear gas at protesters](https://rt-english.com/news/648561-paris-protest-tear-gas/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS) at Place de la Nation, and Russian state broadcaster RT reported hundreds of arrests as clashes spread to other cities, including Lyon. Officials have not published an arrest total for Saturday.

The unrest followed a defeat for the government in the National Assembly. Lawmakers [rejected the 2027 budget bill](https://www.cnn.com/2026/11/05/world/live-news/france-strikes-protests-action-schools-intl), which sought about €54 billion in savings through broad spending cuts. On Thursday, the Interior Ministry counted about 600,000 marchers nationwide, the largest turnout since the protests began in September. The unions said nearly 1.6 million took part.

The next round has already been called. Russia's BFM.ru reports that France's teaching and research unions have [called a strike for Nov. 10](https://www.bfm.ru/news/623203), saying insufficient pay is their main grievance. Pay demands from the public sector cut directly against the spending restraint the budget was meant to deliver.

Coverage differs by outlet. RT, which has an interest in showing disorder in a leading European Union state that backs Ukraine, focused on the violence and the arrests. Western outlets focused on the size of the turnout and the budget arithmetic. Both describe the same situation: a government without a parliamentary majority, a deficit it has promised to cut, and a public that rejects the cuts.

## What this means

The risk passes through the bond market. A government that cannot pass savings either borrows more or rolls over the previous year's spending. Either way, France's borrowing premium over Germany rises, and French banks holding domestic sovereign debt are exposed. The precedent is December 2024, when the government fell over its budget, parliament passed an emergency law to carry over spending, and Moody's downgraded France days later. The market already prices French political instability, but it may underestimate how far street pressure will reduce the savings target, as pay demands like the teachers' are added to the bill. The desk's read is that within weeks France passes an emergency rollover or a heavily reduced budget, and that a rating agency warning or downgrade follows within months. That depends on the protests and strikes continuing at current turnout. A savings package that passes close to its original €54 billion would prove this wrong.

## What to watch

- Turnout and disruption in Tuesday's education strike. A large turnout would encourage other public-sector unions to press pay claims that work against the deficit target.
- Whether the government uses an emergency rollover law or tries to force the budget through without a vote. Either step would show it cannot win a majority for consolidation.
- Rating agency statements on France. A negative outlook would raise borrowing costs and transmit the political standoff to French banks.