This time last year French president Emmanual Macron was riding high. By July the ride was over. After a hellish few months, there are doubts that he will be now be able to push through his proposed reforms for 2019.

Macron’s big thing was his determination not to back down in the face of opposition – until he did. His decision to find 10 billion euros to try to placate the Yellow Vests might not have neutered them and could well embolden other sections of the population who oppose reforms planned for this year.

Will he tackle pensions first? Among the most tricky for the government is pension reform – a key plank of Macron’s presidential platform. The guiding idea is to end the division between the private sector and the public sector so that a euro earned in either is worth the same in pension terms.

The legal retirement age of 62 will not be changed. There could be a tough fight with France’s trade unions who are embarrassed at being sidelined by the grassroots Yellow Vest movement and are keen to be seen to matter. The government faces a battle.

Reforming France’s famous public services is not an easy job .. The parliamentary timetable also includes a vote on reform of public services. Anything could happen.

Surveys showed there was considerable sympathy in France for some of the Yellow Vests concerns.

Most of them had low paid jobs and said they felt crushed under the weight of endless taxes – but they also complained at the lack of public services where they lived. In his speech at the height of the crisis, Macron reminded the French that taxes pay for public services. But he is also now acutely aware that he must trim fat wherever possible in the public sector as the government is reaching the limit of what taxpayers are willing to pay.

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