Jan 16 – French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin unveiled his labour law liberalisation package, entitlked the Contrat de Premièr Embauche (CPE), and said that “urgent” action was needed to “bring the French labour market into the modern era”. The law would see employers hire 18-26 year olds on two-year contracts that would allow them to fire the youths without notice or explanation.

Jan 30 – Student union bodies called for meetings to mobilise a response to the CPE.