French government presents plan to fight anti-Semitism
A boy is spraying a swastika at the door of a Muslim building in Lyon, France. The French government has presented a plan to combat anti-Semitism and other forms of racism in the country. The package consists of 80 points. Photo AFP, Jean-Philippe Ksiazek
Western Europe
The French Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, has presented a package of 80 measures against discrimination, racism and anti-Semitism. It is focused on educating young people but also training civil servants.
Every year, 1.2 million people experience discrimination or racist or anti-Semitic attacks in France. A “scourge” against which the government wants to act in a transversal way, reports La Croix.
The plan contains 80 measures, designed in consultation with civil society, the various ministries and independent institutions, and affects different sectors, ranging from education to employment, including justice and sport. “It’s a four-year plan that responds to the realities of everyday life, with follow-up meetings every six months, a progress report on the mid-term objectives”, specifies Isabelle Rome, the responsible minister for equality between women and men, diversity and equal opportunities.
Memorial site
Young people are the first concerned. Students will have to benefit from a “visit of a historical or memorial site linked to racism, anti-Semitism or anti-Gypsyism” during their schooling. Specific content will also be provided during universal national service (UNS) or civic services. Their teachers will see their continuous training on the subject reinforced, with an appointment announced every five years.
In addition, all State civil servants will be gradually trained. “40 million euros” are reserved for the training of “731,000 agents this year”, Isabelle Rome still indicates to the newspaper Le Parisien. The rest of the plan is not quantified, but “the various ministries which are committed to this plan will give themselves the means”, according to the minister.
Trade unions
Among its flagship measures, the government plans to “systematise testing on discrimination in employment”, in various sectors of activity, private and public, in consultation with trade unions and employers’ organisations and associations in particular.
This practice, which consists of sending two identical CVs for the same job offer, with the only differences being the origin of the candidate or an address in a famous district, must be applied “in all sectors of activity” and on businesses of all sizes. In a “graduated logic”, if bad practices persist, the government does not rule out resorting to “name and shame”, publishing the names of companies that are not very virtuous. Penalties may be considered.
The government still intends to include in the law “the possibility” of issuing an “arrest warrant” in the event of “racist or anti-Semitic convictions”, “dispute of crimes against humanity”, or “apology for crimes against humanity or war crimes”. According to data from the Ministry of Justice, 1,382 convictions were pronounced in 2021 for racist, anti-Semitic or xenophobic acts or committed with this aggravating circumstance, i.e. 45 per cent more than the previous year.
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