PARIS, Dec 2 (Reuters) – The National Assembly adopted on Friday, with the support of the National Rally, a bill from the presidential majority aimed at toughening penalties against squatters, which worries the left and certain associations.
The text was adopted by 40 votes to 13, including 24 from the Renaissance group, three from Horizons and 13 from the National Rally. The left voted against. Neither Les Républicains, nor the MoDem, nor the members of the centrist group Liot participated in the final vote.
This bill presented by the groups Renaissance and Horizons triples the penalties incurred by the squatters, who now risk up to three years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros.
To speed up the procedures, a provision voted by the deputies allows a landlord to unilaterally terminate the lease of a tenant in the event of unpaid debts, without legal action.
The text must now be approved by the Senate, with a majority on the right.
The cases of illegal occupation of housing are “particularly dangerous for our democratic fabric because the spectacle of impunity and the feeling of injustice experienced nibble our republican pact”, estimates the rapporteur (Renaissance) of the text, Guillaume Kasbarian.
This bill, which responds to requests made for a long time by the associations of owners, is “a factory of homeless people (without a fixed address-Editor’s note)”, believe on the contrary the elected representatives of the left by the voice of the deputy La France rebellious (LFI) Danielle Simonnet.
“Housing is not a crime” wrote on a banner of demonstrators gathered Sunday at Place du Châtelet, in Paris.
For the executive, this text “is a magnificent example of ‘at the same time'”, said government spokesman Olivier Véran on Tuesday, in reference to an expression dear to President Emmanuel Macron.
The situation of tenants in difficulty is taken into account, according to him, just like that of “small owners who rent accommodation (…) and do not have to be deprived of it for years”, he said. he added in response to a question from Reuters after the cabinet meeting. (Report Elizabeth Pineau, edited by Blandine Hénault)