Arthur Delaborde with AFP / Photo credit: LUDOVIC MARIN / POOL / AFP
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7:08 p.m., July 04, 2023
Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday before the mayors of cities affected by the riots of the last week a draft “emergency law” to accelerate the reconstruction after the destruction which targeted buildings, street furniture and means of transport. “We have a problem with deadlines. We are going to introduce an emergency law to crush all deadlines, have an accelerated procedure to rebuild much faster,” said the head of state, according to a participant.
When questioned, his entourage did not immediately specify when this text would be presented and examined.
No “unanimity in the room”
The president also promised support for communities “to be able to repair very quickly” broken video surveillance equipment, as well as financial aid to cities for repairs concerning “roads, municipal establishments, schools”. “We are going to be extremely firm and clear with the insurers, municipality by municipality,” he said again during this meeting at the Elysée. After having listened at length to a large number of some 250 mayors present, Emmanuel Macron admitted that there was not “unanimity in the room” on the solutions to be provided after the death of Nahel, 17, killed by a police officer. during a roadside check, which was followed by several nights of rioting, destruction and looting.
Often implicated for having buried, in 2018, the plan of ex-minister Jean-Louis Borloo for the suburbs, the president admitted having been “clumsy”, while claiming to have nevertheless taken many measures in favor of the city politics.
Several construction sites
He outlined several projects, promising to “work” during the summer “to lead to very concrete solutions”. “We must not let the dough fall,” he said, referring to a “progress point” with the mayors at “the end of the summer”. Among these projects, he mentioned “better support, better empowerment and sometimes better sanction” the parents of children who are perpetrators of violence. He also pleaded for a change of method in the construction of public policies, and for more “decentralization” and “simplification” to clarify the responsibilities of the various territorial levels.
Same need to “clarify the skills” on housing: according to the socialist councilor of Fleury-les-Aubrais in the Center-Val-de-Loire, Carole Cannette, he proposed to “put the mayors back at the heart of the decisions of allocation of social housing in their cities”. He also called “to build housing,” said another elected official. On social networks, widely singled out by the executive for their role during the riots, Emmanuel Macron lamented that they “accelerated” the conflagration, according to a participant. He spoke of “a desire for revenge” the first two nights, and “a very uninhibited feeling”.
The Head of State recalled having recently mentioned a process of “decivilization” at work according to him. “We have seen it during these events, everything that our civilization has built up is dissolving,” he said.