130 deputies (with 109 votes against) voted in favor of this initiative, carried by the presidential Renaissance party, and which must now be examined by the Senate (upper house).
According to Le Figaro, we are talking about cities with more than 1.5 thousand inhabitants. Initially, it was assumed that the requirement would affect all towns, but during the discussion in parliament, amendments were passed which released smaller settlements from this obligation – for financial reasons. Republican MP Philippe Gosselin said the exclusion would affect 70% of French municipalities. In this regard, setting requirements for the remaining cities does not make sense.
“Either the European flag is important, it’s a symbol, and we hang it everywhere, or not,” said Green MP Jeremy Jordanoff.
By the way, the bill provides not only for the obligation to hang the EU flag in front of the town halls, but also to place the official portrait of the president of the republic inside the town hall. The latter applies to all cities.
It should be noted that both conditions are already met in many municipalities. In this regard, political opponents of French President Emmanuel Macron saw the passing of such a law as an attempt to distract from pension reform.
And Jean-Philippe Tanguy, deputy of the National Association, declared that the starred flag is not a symbol, for the French only the flags painted in blue, white and red are important.
Read the Latest Science and Technology News Today on The Eastern Herald.
