French leader Emmanuel Macron faced growing pressure on Monday to find a way out of the worst crisis of his presidency after shocking scenes of rioting in Paris at the weekend.

As more than 100 people prepared to appear in court over the worst clashes in central Paris in decades on Saturday, Mr Macron’s government was preparing its response.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who cancelled a scheduled trip to Poland, was set to meet the heads of the main political parties, many of whom sense opportunities in Mr Macron’s woes.

But the 40-year-old president appeared determined not to roll back the unpopular hikes in fuel tax which sparked the protests, or announce state handouts for poor families.

“Thinking that, as we have always done for 30 years, that you make a little symbolic gesture and then we sweep the dust under the carpet, that doesn’t resolve the fundamental, structural problem,” spokesman Benjamin Griveaux said on France Inter radio.

The protests erupted over fuel taxes but have since morphed into a wider wave of resistance to Mr Macron’s economic reforms, with a third round of demonstrations called for on Saturday in Paris.

Mr Macron, a centrist, was elected in May 2017 on a pro-business platform that promised measures to incite companies to invest to create jobs.

Immediately after coming to power, he pushed through tax cuts for entrepreneurs and high-earners — policies that have become a lightning rod for anger among the so-called “gilets jaunes” or “yellow vests”.

MEETING WITH ‘YELLOW VESTS’, OPPONENTS
Mr Macron’s task now is also complicated by his own desire not to yield to France’s street protests, which in the past have repeatedly forced his predecessors into U-turns.

Jacline Mouraud, one of the protest movement’s prime instigators, told AFP that scrapping the fuel tax was a “prerequisite for any discussion” with the government.

The French Prime Minister is set to hold talks with representatives of the “yellow vests” on Tuesday.

He will then announce “measures” aimed at taking the heat out of the protests, his office said.

“Mr President, we need a response,” demanded the front-page headline of Le Parisien newspaper on Monday.

“Swamped” read the headline of left-leaning Liberation newspaper which said the government seemed “paralysed by the yellow vest movement that it can’t stop and that risks boiling over”.

Amid criticism of policing methods on Saturday that saw dozens of cars torched and shops vandalised, the government ruled out imposing a state of emergency which had been mooted.

Deputy interior minister Laurent Nunez said that emergency measures were “one option among others,” but he said it was “not on the table for now”.

Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said that solution for tackling low purchasing power for struggling families lay in reducing the tax burden in France, which is among the highest in Europe.

“We must speed up the reduction of taxes,” he said. “But for that we must speed up the decrease in public spending.”

Mr Philippe and Mr Macron are facing criticism from rivals across the politic spectrum over their handling of the crisis.

Mr Philippe is holding crisis talks on Monday with representatives of major political parties in the wake of violent anti-government protests that have rocked Paris.

Socialist leader Olivier Faure urged Mr Philippe to drop the tax hikes and to restore a wealth tax that was slashed by the centrist government.

“We want a change in the method. One needs to come down [from] Mount Olympus,” Faure said, referring to Mr Macron’s Greek god nickname Jupiter.

ARC DE TRIOMPHE RANSACKED, HUNDREDS ARRESTED AND INJURED
Mr Macron, a former investment banker, was booed on Sunday by onlookers while surveying the damage caused during the rioting.

The president assessed the Arc de Triomphe, the massive monument to France’s war dead at the top of the Champs Elysees avenue, where rioters scrawled graffiti and ransacked the ticketing and reception areas.

He also saw the wreckage of burnt-out cars and damaged buildings from rioting at other sites but has not spoken publicly about the destruction since his return from a G20 summit in Argentina.

Paris police said 412 people were arrested on Saturday during the worst clashes for years in the capital and 363 remained in custody, according to the latest figures.

A total of 263 people were injured nationwide, including 133 in the capital, 23 of them members of the security forces.

The violence has caused deep concern in the French business community which claims it has already lost billions of euros, and representatives are set to attend a meeting at the economy ministry on Monday.

“Our worst fears have been confirmed: this is the third consecutive weekend of (protest) blockades which amounts to a major loss for the whole business community,” Jacques Creyssel, representative of a federation of retail businesses, told AFP.

Three people have died in incidents linked to the anti-government protests which began on November 17.

On Saturday, the Champs Elysees, the Louvre museum, the Opera and Place Vendome were among the ritzy areas where shop windows were smashed and dozens of cars torched by rioters.

One person was in a critical condition after protesters pulled down one of the huge iron gates of the Tuileries garden by the Louvre, crushing several people.

Nearly 190 fires were put out and six buildings were set alight, the interior ministry said.

PROTESTS HURTING FRENCH ECONOMY
France’s finance minister, Bruno Le Maire, has warned that the violent protests and road blockades will have a negative impact on the economy.

The movement is hurting sales, according to Mr Le Maire, who said at the ministry that “the impact on the French economy was serious” and that some sectors have reported sales declines of between 15 to 25 per cent.

But Germany’s foreign minister says his country isn’t worried about the anti-government protests in neighbouring France, and he’s confident the situation will calm down soon.

Germany and France have traditionally been the European Union’s leading powers.

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said on Monday that “France is needed in Europe, and we know that focusing on such disputes in a country of course consumes energy, but that is completely normal.”

Mr Maas said that “France is known for its special protest culture, and I think we’re seeing that now, but from all that I hear and what is planned in the way of talks, we are confident that the situation there will calm down in the foreseeable future.”