For a fourth day, demonstrators filled boulevards in Paris and other French cities, while the government scrambled to contain fallout from a contentious social reform that has fractured party alliances and ignited one of the largest showdowns of President Emmanuel Macron’s second term. By early Tuesday, senior officials indicated a willingness to scale back key provisions after days of mass mobilization, general strikes and mounting threats of parliamentary censure.

“We cannot govern while the street believes it has not been heard,” a senior minister said on condition of anonymity. “The government is prepared to modify elements of the bill to restore social peace.” Officials did not provide a timetable or detail the changes, but the concession marked a tactical shift after the cabinet’s earlier insistence that the package was essential for fiscal stability and labor-market flexibility.

The crisis began when the government pushed a package combining pension, labor and social-welfare measures that critics say would disproportionately burden younger and lower-income workers. Ministers invoked Article 49.3 of the constitution last week to force parts of the package through without a full vote, a maneuver that inflamed union leaders, left-wing parties and even members of the president’s centrist coalition.

On the streets, union-organized rallies drew tens of thousands — according to union estimates and police counts — and transport and public-sector workers staged rolling strikes that snarled trains and closed schools. “We will not accept half-measures,” said a union spokesperson after the government’s announcement. “Unless the most harmful clauses are withdrawn, the pressure will continue.”

Parliament has become an arena of high drama. Leftist and far-right deputies signaled they would attempt to bring down the government with a censure motion, exploiting the political opening created by internal defections in the presidential coalition. “This episode shows the fragility of a government that refuses to listen,” said an opposition deputy, noting that political fortunes in Paris now hinge on whether moderate lawmakers will return to the fold.

Markets and international partners monitored the situation nervously. European officials privately warned that prolonged instability in France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy, could unsettle investor confidence and complicate coordination on issues from migration to defense. “France’s internal cohesion matters to the rest of Europe,” a European diplomat said. “Partners hope for a rapid political solution that respects democratic debate.”

Analysts pointed to France’s long history of social conflict — from 1995 pension strikes to the yellow-vest movement — as both a warning and context for potential resolution. “The French political system allows for explosive street politics, but it also has mechanisms for compromise,” said a political scientist at Sciences Po. “The question is whether enough actors are willing to compromise now.”

For President Macron, the calculations are delicate. Too much concession risks alienating fiscal hawks and business leaders; too little risks intensified social disruption and potential parliamentary defeat. As ministers prepared to enter renewed talks with unions and opposition parliamentarians, France’s public square remained unsettled, a reminder that in an interconnected Europe, domestic policy debates can rapidly become international concerns.