The deputies validated the bill on separatism in committee (illustration).
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Jacques Witt / SIPA
A week of dense debate, rather than controversy.
The deputies completed on Saturday the examination in committee of the bill against "separatism" and on the means of combating radical Islamism, the first step before the hemicycle on February 1.
Chaired by François de Rugy, the special committee responsible for examining the bill "strengthening the principles of the Republic" gave the first green light to this controversial text, after 55 hours of debates marked by the adoption of 169 amendments.
"We had a somewhat technical debate which will undoubtedly be more political in the hemicycle", predicted the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, pilot of this bill wanted by Emmanuel Macron which according to him "will be a milestone".
Migrate to the 1905 law regime
After retouching the freedoms of association and education on Thursday and Friday, parliamentarians attacked another totem pole of the Republic on Saturday: the 1905 law on the separation of churches and state.
The goal?
Modify the characteristics of religious associations.
Against the backdrop of the fight against Islamist separatism, objective N.1 of the bill, the executive wants to encourage Muslim cultural associations and evangelists, the vast majority under the statute of the 1901 law, to migrate to the legal regime of the law from 1905. It is associated with a series of advantages, in particular fiscal advantages, and new financing tools such as the possibility of exploiting investment properties.
These hoped-for transfers from one regime to another are accompanied by counterparts: recourse to a chartered accountant, declaration of foreign funding, specific management by the association's office.
In the line of sight: avoid the entryism of elements considered radical.
“We added constraints in 1901 and we added advantages in 1905”, explains Gérald Darmanin.
Often presented as a strictly repressive bill, this text "organizes liberalities", praised one of the co-rapporteurs Sacha Houlié.
"It was not the revocation of the Edict of Nantes" of 1598 which granted guarantees to the Protestants, he exclaimed.
Avalanche of amendments
Started Monday, the examination of the text "separatism" by the deputies of the special committee advanced slowly because of a high number of amendments: more than 1,800.
Started with thunderous controversies on the veil and the "censorship" of amendments to oppositions, the examination of the bill continued in a more serene and studious atmosphere, while awaiting its passage in the hemicycle from the 1st February.
Discussions have sometimes turned sour, especially between Gérald Darmanin and the extreme right.
Saturday morning, an amendment by Emmanuelle Ménard speaking of "the French State" and aiming to enshrine in law "the Christian heritage" provoked an outcry.
The bill provides for a battery of measures on the neutrality of the public service, the fight against online hatred, family education, strengthened control of associations, better transparency of religions and their funding, and even the fight against certificates of virginity, polygamy or forced marriages.
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