France president Emmanuel Macron weakened by crisis over police killing

Governing an already-polarised France has gotten close to impossible for Emmanuel Macron after the killing of a teenager by a policeman set off six days of tumult across the country.

Even in normal times Emmanuel Macron needed allies' help governing France. To get some things done he worked with the traditional right. The center-left helped the French president accomplish others. The challenge was bigger than any a French leader had faced in more than two decades: He had to convince politicians across the country's national assembly to support even a minor domestic project.

Now, governing his already-polarised country has gotten close to impossible for Mr. Macron because a suburban police officer stopped a yellow Class A Mercedes and fired one fatal shot into the 17-year-old driver's chest, setting off six days of tumult across the country.

Mr. Macron's centrist Renaissance party and its close allies had merely 251 seats out of 577 after he won his second five-year term last year with 58% of the votes in a runoff with far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

Mr. Macron dreamed big despite the close victory. His first big goal was raising the retirement age from 62 to 64, which he had to force through parliament. He then hoped to re-industrialise France, improve working conditions and finalise a new immigration bill. Abroad, Mr. Macron championed European sovereignty and independence in fields ranging from the economy and energy to defence.

But all that has had to fall by the wayside.

Mr. Macron shortened a visit to a European summit in Brussels last week for a crisis meeting with his government. This week, he called a last-minute delay in a visit to Germany that had been meant to show the strength of the bilateral friendship despite disputes on energy, defense and the economy, among other issues.

The changes in his agenda echo another uncomfortable situation for the French leader three months ago, when the planned state visit of King Charles III to France was postponed due to violent protests against the pension changes.