M. Pierre MOSCOVICI     Socialist Group in the European Parliament, Member European Parliament, Vice-President Parliament's Bureau, Vice-President Committee on Foreign Affairs, Member Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Substitute Delegation for relations with the United States, Member pierre.moscovici@parti-socialiste.fr

Press Office: French Embassy South Africa

 

Dear Sir,

Thank you for your e-mail in which you express your concern about certain legislative measures being considered in France. Your comment will be duly passed on to French authorities. On behalf of the French embassy, I would like to add the following.

I want to assure you that the provisions proposed by the French President do not in any way target any specific religion. On the contrary, they aim at protecting all religions while preserving the neutrality of State
institutions. Nor do they aim at excluding anyone from the benefits of State education or denying anyone's right to freedom of thought, worship and conscience.

I thought you might be interested in the background to the current debate in France.

As you know, secularism is an essential part of the French national heritage: since the Revolution, citizenship in France has been based on the refusal of any distinction grounded in cultural, national, ethnic, or religious origin, and on a shared will to live together on the basis of a set of principles (liberté, égalité, fraternité). Laïcité (secularism) is an equally important principle.

As a secular State, France is premised on the principle of strict separation between church and State. The aim of this principle is to ensure respect for all creeds and beliefs, equal individual rights for all citizens,
irrespective of their belonging to a particular community, and the neutrality of state institutions.

The President has asked an independent Commission, chaired by the Ombudsman of the Republic and made up of members from different backgrounds to see how this principle should be implemented and social cohesion maintained in modern France.

This review became necessary not only in the light of the increasing cultural diversity of modern French society, but also following a number of incidents between different communities, notably in schools, and a series of cases where the effective provision of public services was disrupted on religious grounds (e.g.: parents refusing to allow their children to be taught certain subjects or be taught by female teachers, relatives of female patients refusing to allow them to be seen by male doctors, etc).

The remit of the Commission was much wider than the question of religious symbols which has attracted much of the coverage. Its work has prompted a very wide debate beyond party-political or community lines. Different views on its recommendations have been taken by members of the same communities.
The democratic debate will go on and be taken up in Parliament.

In a speech on 17 December, the President endorsed most of the proposals of the Commission, which recommended:

- further efforts by the government to renovate deprived urban areas;

- establishing early next year an independent commission to fight against all forms of discrimination ;

- stepping up the fight against xenophobia, racism and anti-Semitism ;

- ensuring school syllabuses include lessons on different world religions ;

- passing a new law reaffirming the principle of neutrality of all state institutions as the best means to ensure peaceful coexistence between different religions ;

- in the framework of this law a ban on the wearing of overtly religious symbols in state schools ;

These provisions do not target any specific religion, but aim at offering equal protection to all religions. The President has recalled that Islam was very much welcome in France, alongside other faiths.

Schools must remain neutral and immune to tensions between different communities. To continue to fulfil their role, schools must not only provide pupils with skills and knowledge, but also instil in them the tenets of
citizenship. To do this, they have to stay neutral.

- by treating pupils as individuals, not representatives of groups or communities
- by ensuring equality and non-discrimination between boys and girls
- by ensuring that all State schools are co-educational and that all subjects, including sports, are taught to boys and girls together
- by making sure schools remain immune from any form of political or religious propaganda or proselytism

Yours sincerely,

The Press Office of the French Embassy.

 

Presse.LONDRES-AMBA@diplomatie.gouv.fr