Riot-wise, they mostly burn tires in the road....burn cars....confronting cops. The issue here is that probably half the cops agree on the wrong way that the diesel tax is being applied, and probably won’t be aggressive putting down the riot.
What I would worry about....if this continues through spring of 2019, you have the EU election coming up in Europe, and it could flip 50-percent of the votes to a right-wing party (anti-Macron), and that’s a serious thing to allow to brew.
But he can’t really step back and take the gas/diesel tax off the shelf without looking very weak.
An experienced political figure would have implemented this in three or four steps....over five years. Whoever led him into this decision (29 cents per gallon of diesel going up)....really invited trouble.
$6.45 U.S. dollar per gallon of diesel equivalent, per today’s exchange rate?
He self-confident and impatient.