France: the government launches the interministerial committee on secularism
French Prime Minister Jean Castex at a press conference in Paris on April 22.
AFP - LUDOVIC MARIN
Text by: Julien Chavanne
2 min
The government presents this Thursday the interministerial committee of secularism, a new structure intended to replace the Observatory of secularism, the direction of which was contested.
The executive wants to regain control of this strategic subject in view of the presidential election.
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Too complacent with Islamism, too militant, ultimately too free ... The Secularism Observatory had been in the government's sights for several months.
He was doomed to disappear following
the assassination of Professor Samuel Paty.
A month and a half after its dissolution, Prime Minister
Jean Castex
launches this Thursday, July 15 the interministerial committee of secularism: 18 ministries mobilized around the Ministry of the Interior.
The philosophy praised to the government is "to
stop allowing attacks on secularism to pass
."
Regain control
The committee aims, according to Matignon, to "
set in motion the various administrations
" with the approach of the final adoption next week of the "
bill consolidating the republican principles
", which contains several measures around
secularism
.
For this, an office will be opened at the Ministry of the Interior with the mission of applying the new procedures of the bill.
Several flagship measures are already known.
In National Education, for example, all teachers will follow compulsory training in the principles of the Republic within 4 years.
Just like other civil servants.
Others are more symbolic, such as the decision to make December 9 the national day of secularism.
With this committee directly attached to the Ministry of the Interior, the government intends to regain control over the sensitive terrain of secularism.
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