Macron vows tax relief, urges calm in bid to quell protests

President Emmanuel Macron broke his silence Monday on the exceptional protests shaking France and his presidency, promising broad tax relief for struggling workers and pensioners and acknowledging his own responsibility in fuelling the nation's anger.

Speaking with a soft voice and gentle tone, Macron pleaded during a brief televised address for a return to calm after almost four weeks of protests that started in neglected provinces to oppose fuel tax increases and progressed to rioting in Paris.

"We are at a historic moment for our country," the French leader said from the capital's presidential Elysee Palace. "We will not resume the normal course of our lives" after all that has happened.

Protesters spent days demanding that Macron speak publicly about their concerns, but it's unclear whether the responses he offered will be enough to quell the dissatisfaction.

Some protest representatives have said more demonstrations will be held Saturday, following the ones in Paris that turned violent during the previous two weekends.

Macron declared an "economic and social state of emergency," ordering the government and parliament to take immediate steps to change tax rules and other policies that hit the wallets of working class French people.

He responded to several of the protesters' demands, promising measures that included: -a government-funded 100-euro increase in the minimum wage starting at the beginning of the new year -the abolition of taxes on overtime pay in 2019 -asking profit-making companies to give workers tax-free year-end bonuses -slashing a tax hike on small pensions, acknowledging it was "unjust."
"I take my share of responsibility" for the anger gripping France," Macron said, an unusual admission for a president accused of being out-of-touch. "I might have hurt people with my words."
The president's long silence since the first protests last month aggravated that anger. Many protesters hoped only to hear one thing Monday from Macron: "I quit."
Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said new measures should focus on helping France's working classes. "We are ready to make any gesture" that works, he said on RTL radio. "What is important now is to put an end to the crisis and find peace and unity in the country again."