French MPs approve compulsory EU flag in front of town halls
Following heated debates on Wednesday night (10 May), France’s National Assembly adopted a bill aimed at making it compulsory for town halls representing over 1,500 inhabitants to display both French and European flags.
The bill, from the Renaissance group, part of the presidential majority, was adopted by 130 votes in favour.
109 deputies, from the ranks of La France Insoumise (LFI), Rassemblement National (RN) and Les Républicains (LR), opposed it.
A symbolic measure
The text provides that the display of both European and French flags is now mandatory in front of town halls in France. However, an amendment exempted municipalities with fewer than 1,500 inhabitants from this requirement. This exception is motivated by budgetary reasons, as the room for manoeuvre of small municipalities is already limited.
As such, 78% of French town halls are exempt from this new regulation. Some people questioned the usefulness of such a law, given that the European flag is already flying in front of many town halls.
MPs also made it compulsory to display the official portrait of the President of the Republic in all town halls. Again, this practice is already widespread. Additionally, the motto of the Republic – “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” – will have to be displayed on the facades of town halls, on the initiative of the LFI MP Antoine Léaument.
The rapporteur of the text Mathieu Lefèvre explained that this text had first of all a “symbolic” scope, since, he argues, some parties “have difficulty in masking their unease in front of the star-spangled flag”.
Opening the debates on Europe Day on Tuesday, Lefèvre said that MPs on the radical left of LFI and far right of the RN would have “trouble hiding their dreams of a disguised Frexit”, in reference to the idea of France leaving the European Union.
Before the debates even opened, RN’s second-in-command Jean-Philippe Tanguy attacked the initiative, explaining that “the European flag does not refer to any history, any symbol”.
During the debates, the question of the 2005 referendum on the European Constitution, rejected by the French public, but finally adopted by the elected representatives of both chambers, came up multiple times.
The fact of “imposing” the European flag, “against the will of the people” would be “contemptuous of the French people”, argued Tanguy, among others.
Lack of enthusiasm
The pro-European left of the greens and socialists, for their part, denounced the proposal’s lack of usefulness. In the corridors of the Palais Bourbon, some deplored a “waste of time”, but despite this, the few Socialists present supported the text.
Amongst the ruling presidential majority, in particular the allies of Renaissance (MoDem, Horizons), there was also very little enthusiasm, evidenced by the participation in the vote.
Despite the issued instructions and massive mobilisation of Renaissance, one of its members abstained, as did four members of the MoDem group. The members of former prime minister Edouard Philippe’s movement, Horizons, virtually deserted the vote.
An MP from the presidential majority told EURACTIV France that he did not understand the usefulness of such a text, which was not urgent, criticising the action in the face of “too many texts”.
The text will now be examined by the Senate. To be adopted, it must be voted on by both chambers on the same terms.
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