French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with Time magazine that the crisis of "zero jackets" was "very useful to him in some way" because it forced him to change his attitude towards the French.

Hundreds of thousands of French have taken to the streets since mid-November as part of the "Zero Jackets" movement, which has been protesting for months on the social and tax policy of the government.

"In our country we like to rule but we want to kill our rulers," Macron said, referring to the execution of King Louis XVI by rebels in 1793.

"My challenge is to listen to people more than I did at the beginning," he said during the long interview, filmed 10 days ago at the Elysee Palace.

Asked about the social crisis that shook his presidency, he said: "Somehow the movement of the zero jackets was helpful to me because it reminded me of how I should be."

"I was probably given the impression that I wanted to reform against the people. Sometimes I ran out of patience as if it were directed against the French. It is not."

"Now I think I have to take the time to explain where we are and exactly what we want," he said.