Europe Protests 31 October: What Is Planned in France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands

Europe protests 31 October: demonstrations against the cost of living are planned for Saturday in France, where the gilets jaunes have called an “acte III”, and in 23 German cities, where the youth initiative Gen Z regelt is marching. In Belgium there are calls on social media for a march in Brussels. France’s interior minister Laurent Nuñez has warned prefects of a “very high” risk of urban violence from the evening onwards, RTL reports.

Archive photo: a CRS police cordon at Place de la Nation, Paris, during a demonstration on 19 January 2023. Photo: Exilexi, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.

The crux

• France: this is the third Saturday of cost-of-living protests. The gilets jaunes have called sit-ins at 14:00 outside the National Assembly and town halls, and unions and student groups are joining marches in several cities (Ouest-France).
• Germany: Gen Z regelt plans simultaneous demonstrations in 23 cities from 14:00 (organiser, DW).
• Belgium and Italy: no union-declared march has been confirmed for Saturday. In Brussels there are calls on social media, and in Italy police are on alert.
• Netherlands: police and Maastricht council are preparing measures after social media calls for youths to gather at the Vrijthof (NOS/L1).

France: Paris

The Paris route had not been settled as of Thursday evening. According to franceinfo, the police prefecture verbally refused the Bastille–Nation route declared by the CGT, FO, FSU, Solidaires, Fage, Union étudiante and Unef, and proposed a route on the city’s edge from Porte de Bagnolet to Porte de Charenton. On Thursday 29 October the seven unions filed an urgent application (référé) at the administrative court to force the prefecture to issue a formal order, so they would have time to challenge it; as of Thursday evening neither a written prefecture order nor a court ruling had been published (Le Parisien, BFMTV). Separately, the gilets jaunes want to march from Bastille via Opéra to Concorde, which may be refused because President Emmanuel Macron has said marches must stay out of city centres (Le Parisien).

Restrictions: undeclared gatherings are banned around the Élysée, the National Assembly, the Champs-Élysées and the railway stations from Friday 20:00 until Monday 06:00. In the same areas, unaccompanied minors are under a 21:00–06:00 curfew (franceinfo). Nuñez has asked prefects for a “robust” police operation and pointed to calls for gatherings “on all public squares from 20:00” on Halloween night (RTL/AFP).

Banned: the Paris and Hauts-de-Seine prefects have banned the far-right collective Objectif Remigration’s conference on Saturday in Le Plessis-Robinson and its march in Paris on Sunday 1 November. They cited risks to public order after the Trappes attack (franceinfo).

France: Lyon and elsewhere

In Lyon, the Rhône prefecture has authorised a march by Solidaires, CNT-SO and Unef. It leaves the Manufacture des Tabacs at 14:00 and goes via rue Garibaldi and avenue Berthelot to place Jean-Macé, without crossing the Rhône. The prefecture has announced a “substantial” security operation (Le Figaro, actu.fr). The gilets jaunes also list 14:00 sit-ins in Lyon at the Hôtel de Ville, Croix-Rousse, Cordeliers and Fourvière, followed by Bellecour at 16:00. Authorities had not ruled on these by Wednesday. Across France, the gilets jaunes’ site lists 553 planned actions, many of them sit-ins (Le Parisien).

Germany

Gen Z regelt says it is marching “for education, health, climate action and an affordable life, against conscription and against austerity”. It organises the demonstrations itself in five cities: Berlin (Brandenburger Tor), Frankfurt (Eiserner Steg), Hamburg (Jungfernstieg), Munich (Geschwister-Scholl-Platz) and Cologne (Heumarkt). Local groups run the others, and all start at 14:00 (organiser). The initiative says it is “against all violence”. Police told DW they will protect the right to assemble.

Belgium

The Brussels broadcaster BRUZZ reports calls on social media for a new march in Brussels on Saturday, posted by a recently created account. There are also calls for a gathering at Liège-Guillemins station. BRUZZ notes that last Saturday’s Brussels march drew a few hundred people and passed without major incident. No organiser or route has been officially declared.

Netherlands: Maastricht

No demonstration has been registered in Maastricht, but posts on social media are calling on young people to gather at the Vrijthof on Saturday, some mentioning rioting and looting, NOS/L1 reports. Secondary schools in the LVO group have written to parents, and Limburg police have asked parents to keep an eye on their children’s social media use. The municipality told Zuid-Limburg Vandaag it takes the signals seriously and is preparing “visible and non-visible measures” with the police. It is not known who is behind the calls or whether anyone will turn up. Extra police will also be in the city for the MVV–VVV football derby at 16:30.

Italy and Ireland

According to The Local Italy, no group has officially called protests for Saturday. Interior minister Matteo Piantedosi said police were on alert, and Rome’s authorities are preparing for possible demonstrations on Halloween night. This comes after the USB-led general strike on Friday 30 October. We found no protest for 31 October in Ireland reported by a major outlet.

What’s next

The gilets jaunes’ calendar includes a school-student mobilisation on 3 November, an open-ended strike from 5 November and an “Act IV” on 7 November (Sortiraparis). Crux will update this page if routes or bans change.

Sources

• Le Parisien, 29 Oct
• RTL, Nuñez telegram, 29 Oct
• RTL/AFP, Paris route, 29 Oct
• franceinfo, unions go to court
• franceinfo, Paris gathering ban
• franceinfo, Objectif Remigration bans
• Ouest-France, 29 Oct
• Le Figaro, Lyon
• actu.fr, Lyon route
• Gen Z regelt (organiser)
• DW
• BRUZZ, 28 Oct
• The Local Italy
• NOS/L1, Maastricht, 29 Oct
• Zuid-Limburg Vandaag, Maastricht municipality
• Sortiraparis