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France’s PM unveils plan to prevent more riots

Following the rioting that rocked French towns and cities in June, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne has unveiled her plan to tackle urban unrest, including military schools and compulsory courses for parents whose children cause trouble.

Published: 26 October 2023 18:49 CEST
Updated: 27 October 2023 08:45 CEST
France's PM unveils plan to prevent more riots
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne delivers a speech to present security measures in response to the urban riots in June. Photo by Thomas SAMSON / POOL / AFP

In late June, France saw almost a week of nightly rioting in which buildings and cars were set ablaze, stores looted and young people engaged in running battles with the police.

The riots followed the death of a 17-year-old boy in a police traffic stop – and the emergence of a video that revealed that police officers had lied about what happened.

On Thursday PM Elisabeth Borne – speaking to an audience of local mayors – unveiled plans to tackle the violence including ‘military’ schools, tougher penalties for the parents of delinquent teenagers and a €100 million fund to repair the damage caused during the riots. 

Because many of the June rioters were very young – three quarters of those arrested were under 25 and a fifth were still in school – the focus has fallen on parents and schools.

Borne announced the creation of “parenting courses” for parents whose children persistently cause trouble, as well as community service sentences for parents who have “failed in their educational duties”. Parents would also be financially liable for damage caused by their children.

“When a minor has caused damage, we must ensure that both parents are financially responsible for the damage caused, whether they are together or not, whether they live with the child or not,” she said.

In France, under 18s are very rarely jailed, but they can be sent to residential schools – Borne announced that she is considering changing the law to allow young people to be placed in residential schools run by “the judicial youth protection services”.

She also spoke of supervision by “military personnel” – although provided no concrete details. 

Borne announced that Forces d’action républicaine (republican action forces) will be deployed in troubled areas – a combined team including police and magistrates but also social workers and healthcare staff that can work with troubled families to restore order and provide help where needed. 

They will be deployed at the request of local authorities.

Her speech also announced

  • In cases where a curfew is imposed by local authorities – as several areas did during the riots – the maximum penalty for breaking the curfew will be raised from €150 to €750. 
  • The time spent on civics education at collège (secondary school) level will be doubled, while schools can reopen in August for pupils who are having difficulties.
  • Municipal police – a lower level of police who do not have powers of arrest – will be given extra powers

Borne also revealed that of the rioters arrested, three quarters were under the age of 25, and a fifth were still in school.

She added that three quarters of them were born in France, one third had not finished school and the children of single-parent families were “strongly represented”. 

She said: “This indicated a worrying normalisation of violence and a more general breakdown of authority.”

Member comments

  1. I don’t believe the military is trained or interested in rehabilitating delinquent youth – is that really the solution for disaffected youth? Entrusting these children to the military is a recipe for mistreatment and abuse. Sending delinquents to a school where they can receive the structure and attention to become good, productive citizens – whether a military school or otherwise – is a better solution.

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ECONOMY

S&P downgrades French credit rating in blow to Macron

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's downgraded France's credit score on Friday citing a deterioration in the country's budgetary position, a blow to Emmanuel Macron's government days before EU parliamentary elections.

Published: 1 June 2024 15:44 CEST
S&P downgrades French credit rating in blow to Macron

In a statement, the American credit assessor justified its decision to drop France’s long-term sovereign debt rating from “AA” to “AA-” on concerns over lower-than-expected growth.

It warned that “political fragmentation” would make it difficult for the government to implement planned reforms to balance public finances and forecast the budget deficit would remain above the targeted three percent of GDP in 2027.

The S&P’s first downgrade of France since 2013 puts the EU’s second-largest economy on par with the Czech Republic and Estonia but above Spain and Italy.

The announcement will sting for Macron, who has staked a reputation as an economic reformer capable of restoring France’s accounts after low growth and high spending.

The risk of a ratings downgrade had been looming for several quarters, with the previous “AA” assessment given a “negative outlook”.

The surprise slippage in the public deficit for 2023 to 5.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) instead of the expected 4.9 percent did not play in the government’s favour.

France’s general government debt will increase to about 112 percent of GDP by 2027, up from around 109 percent in 2023, “contrary to our previous expectations”, the agency added.

Responding to the downgrade decision, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire reaffirmed the government’s commitment to slashing the public deficit to below three percent by 2027.

“Our strategy remains the same: reindustrialise, achieve full employment and keep to our trajectory to get back under the three percent deficit in 2027,” he said in an interview with newspaper Le Parisien, insisting that nothing would change in the daily lives of the French.

Le Maire claimed the downgrade was primarily driven by the government’s abundant spending during the Covid pandemic to provide a lifeline to businesses and French households.

The main reason for the downgrade was because “we saved the French economy,” he said.

Government critics offered a different rationale.

“This is where the pitiful management of public finances by the Macron/Le Maire duo gets us!” Eric Ciotti, head of the right-wing Republicans party, wrote on social media platform X.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen called the Macron administration’s handling of public finances “catastrophic” and denounced the government as being “as incompetent as they are arrogant”.

A credit downgrade risks putting off investors and making it more difficult to pay off debt.

Earlier this year, influential ratings agencies Moody’s and Fitch spared handing France a lower note.

S&P also maintained its “stable” outlook for France on Friday on “expectations that real economic growth will accelerate and support the government’s budgetary consolidation”, albeit not enough to bring down its high debt-to-GDP ratio.

“S&P’s downgrading of France’s debt simply reflects an imperative that we are already aware of: the need to continue restoring our public finances,” Public Accounts Minister Thomas Cazenave wrote in a statement sent to AFP.

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