Reconstruction after the riots: first step passed with flying colors in the Senate

July 18, 2023

The Senate voted unanimously on Tuesday for the bill aimed at responding to the urgency of the work after the destruction during the recent urban violence, by initiating the debate on the causes of the riots and the political response to it.

The vote was folded in two hours for this text promised by Emmanuel Macron on July 4 in order to speed up reconstruction in the 500 or so municipalities affected by the riots following the death of young Nahel, killed by the shooting of a police officer during a traffic check in Nanterre on June 27.

Town halls, schools, police stations: from Mons-en-Baroeul, in the North, to Lormont, near Bordeaux, via Brie-Comte-Robert or Garges-Lès-Gonesse, in the Paris region, more than 750 public buildings have been achieved, according to the government, to a greater or lesser extent.

“The figures are three times higher than those of the three weeks of 2005”, indicated the Minister for Territorial Cohesion Christophe Béchu.

Barely retouched by the senators, the bill is expected from Thursday in the hemicycle of the National Assembly.

A “compliant” vote would sign its final adoption in record time.

If the Assembly modifies it even a little bit, deputies and senators will have to meet in a joint joint committee to agree on a compromise version which will still have to be validated by each of the two chambers. A scenario that would postpone the final adoption to Friday.

This text is not “a global response to the situation we have experienced”, immediately posed Christophe Béchu facing the hemicycle where the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher (LR) had taken his seat.

“We are now in the time of dealing with the consequences and will of course come at the start of the school year the time for resolute action on the causes, on the policies to be implemented”, he promised.

But on all the benches the senators insisted that the substantive questions be asked.

“We would have liked this text to be put into perspective by an analysis and the presidential speech so that we are given a diagnosis, so that we can define the causes”, declared the boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau.

“What will have to be rebuilt, in the months, in the years to come, is not only what was burned for five days and five nights, it is what was deconstructed for decades, the authority of course (…), and it will probably also be necessary to ensure that all these young people from the neighborhoods can love France”, he added.

The socialist Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie has already announced that her group would ask for a debate again at the start of the school year. “Everyone is debating everywhere what happened in France, except in Parliament, it’s not normal”.

“We need a date for the debate”, supported the communist Pascal Savoldelli. “We must learn all the lessons to recognize and respect the entire French population”.

The text submitted to Parliament urgently includes three articles authorizing the government to act by ordinance on three levers.

The first provides for adaptations of the town planning code to speed up the reconstruction of destroyed or degraded public or private buildings. This may involve identical reconstruction or with improvements, for example in terms of environmental performance.

Preparatory work can be undertaken without waiting for planning permission to be obtained.

Article 2 deals with public procurement which usually goes through calls for tenders, with the dual objective of speeding up and simplifying procedures.

The last article adapts the framework applicable to subsidies paid to local authorities. It opens up the possibility of a zero charge for the communities concerned and will allow them to recover VAT in the current year, without waiting for the current two-year deadline.