France has faced sustained social unrest since mid-October 2026, with student-led demonstrations over living costs, education, and public services escalating into riots and looting across Paris, Lyon, Marseille, and other cities. The government responded with targeted curfews, protest route restrictions, and deployments of up to 70,000 police and gendarmes rather than invoking a national state of emergency under the 1955 law, which would grant expanded powers over movement, assemblies, and searches. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu stated such measures remained an option “if needed” but deemed localized steps more proportionate amid intelligence and deployment shortfalls. By early November, violence had subsided under continued heavy policing, though unions scheduled further strikes and demonstrations. No declaration has occurred despite the scale of unrest, with authorities prioritizing calibrated responses ahead of the 2027 presidential election cycle.