Curfew: why Macron cannot immediately declare it until December 1

DECRYPTION

One month after another: Emmanuel Macron could not decree until December 1 the night curfew in Île-de-France and in 8 metropolises as he wished, since the law requires him to go through a vote of Parliament beyond 4 weeks of restrictions.

Decryption. 

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A state of health emergency can only be declared for one month

By declaring the curfew between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. from this "Saturday 0 hours", Emmanuel Macron hopes to stem the circulation of the virus.

A measure that he would have liked from the outset to apply for six weeks, which current legislation does not allow.

Indeed, this curfew is backed by the establishment of a "state of health emergency", an exceptional regime created on the occasion of the coronavirus epidemic and applied from March 23, 2020 to July 10 2020 (and until September 17 for Guyana and Mayotte).

However, the state of health emergency, which will come into force this weekend, can only be declared for one month and on the basis of very degraded health indicators.

After this period, it is only extended with the agreement of the National Assembly and the Senate which determine its duration, informed by an opinion from the Scientific Council on the epidemic situation.

A warning issued by the Constitutional Council in early July

However, could Emmanuel Macron have decreed the curfew without relying on the state of health emergency?

The answer is uncertain, according to various parliamentary sources interviewed by AFP.

Admittedly, the current regime, set by the "law organizing the end of the state of health emergency", authorizes the prefects to impose traffic restrictions.

But these must be very limited geographically and therefore make the establishment of a "legally fragile" curfew, according to the rapporteur of the text, the LREM deputy Marie Guévenoux.

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At the beginning of July, the Constitutional Council had already issued a warning about the current regime: "the ban on the movement of people and vehicles as well as the ban on access to means of collective passenger transport can only be enacted in territories where active circulation of the virus has been observed ".

Once declared, the state of health emergency offers a whole range of tools to the government to close establishments open to the public, regulate or even prohibit gatherings and travel, until total containment.

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"The sliders can be pushed to their maximum and can also be differentiated" according to the circulation of the virus, explains Marie Guévenoux.

Thus, if the state of health emergency is declared throughout the national territory, the prefects of departments will be able to choose which provisions to apply, depending on the health situation.