FRANCE: The groundswell against prime minister Dominique de Villepin's job scheme for young people grew yesterday with renewed demonstrations in the Latin Quarter and in front of the National Assembly.
Late yesterday afternoon, riot police wearing helmets and wielding batons repelled some 100 students who tried to take over the courtyard of the Collège de France, near the Sorbonne. Though no injuries were reported, the clash was violent, with students heaving metal barriers against the police.
In the early hours of Saturday morning, riot police had evicted students from the Sorbonne - the symbolic headquarters of the historic May 1968 riots.
Further demonstrations are scheduled for today, Thursday and Saturday. Protesters demand the withdrawal of de Villepin's "first job contract" or CPE for people under the age of 26. The CPE establishes a two-year trial period and allows employers to fire without justification.
Late yesterday, the ministry of education admitted that 14 of France's 84 universities have been shut by striking students and professors, compared to eight last Friday. Courses had been "disrupted" at 27 other institutions, the ministry said. The main student union, UNEF, claims more than 50 faculties have shut. Scuffles broke out between protesting students and those advocating a return to classes at the universities of Rennes and Tours.
Socialist deputies will today file a suit against the law establishing the CPE with the Constitutional Council, France's highest administrative body. If the council rules on the side of the government, President Jacques Chirac will sign the text into law next month.
On Sunday night, Mr de Villepin proposed three new "guarantees" to make the law more palatable: young people hired on "first job contracts" will be assigned a 'referee' within the company to follow their progress and give them advice; in the event of a lay-off, young employees will receive supplementary unemployment benefits for three months; and the CPE will be subject to review every six months.
Bernard Thibault, the head of the communist trade union CGT, said the withdrawal of the CPE is "non-negotiable".
"The law says the employer can fire without presenting any reason," Thibault said. "Anything else will be little band-aids on much greater insecurity imposed on everyone under the age of 26."
Jean-Claude Mailly, the head of FO, the third largest French trade union, said: "Even smothered with jam, a piece of stale bread is still stale."
FO and the socialist deputy Jack Lang appealed to Mr Chirac not to sign the bill next month.
Mr Chirac has twice before pulled back in the face of youth protests, abandoning the reform of the university system in 2003 and the reform of the baccalaureat in 2004.
Mr de Villepin's approval rating has gone into free-fall. With support below 40 per cent, his chances of winning the right-wing nomination in next year's presidential race are seriously compromised.
Officially, his chief rival, the interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy, is supporting the government in the crisis. But Sarkozy has not hidden his scepticism about the CPE and is happy to be seen as the last recourse when others create a mess.