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French education minister to hold talks with high school students later today

French education minister Édouard Geffray has invited the three leading high school students associations for further talks at the ministry later this afternoon.

This comes as a recent opinion poll showed that the French public broadly supports the protest – with three-thirds agreeing with the students’ demands, and 55% backing the demonstrations – but is divided on whether they should continue (Europe Live, yesterday).

Students hold placards as they demonstrate outside the Carmes campus of the Institut Catholique de Paris (ICP), in Paris, France. Photograph: Firas Altoukhi/EPA

Morning opening: French high school protests continue despite PM’s promise of action

Jakub Krupa

High school protests across France show no sign of slowing down, with nearly 400 educational establishments facing disruptions this morning.

A French high school student confronts people who want to prevent her from building a barricade, outside the Lycee Lamartine high school in Paris. Photograph: Pedro Nunes/Reuters

Demonstrators have rejected a promise by prime minister Sébastien Lecornu to present a plan to fix the country’s education system by the end of the month, demanding he fully engages with their demands sooner than that.

In a televised address last night, Lecornu said the country could not be “indifferent” to their concerns, and acknowledged that their anger “does not come from nowhere,” but did not make any immediate headline-grabbing announcements.

France’s prime minister Sébastien Lecornu makes a statement regarding the situation in high schools, fuel prices, the agricultural crisis, and the France’s financial situation in Paris. Photograph: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images

“We want real action, and until we get it, we’ll keep mobilising,” a high school student named Marilou in Fontainebleau told AFP.

I will keep an eye on today’s events in France as they unfold.

Over in Spain, I will look at reactions after last night’s death of María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old whose eviction set off a nationwide wave of protests against Spain’s housing crisis.

Elsewhere, Britain’s prime minister Andy Burnham will meet with Germany’s Friedrich Merz in Berlin for political talks. Unusually, however, the pair will not hold a joint press conference.

Lots to cover.

It’s Thursday, 8 October 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.

Good morning.