Former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal’s proposal to ban the wearing of headscarves for girls under the age of 15 is causing a stir within the presidential camp. The centrist party is caught between its desire to show firmness and moral pressure from the Left, which is denouncing what they view as a resurgence of Islamophobia.
The government and Emmanuel Macron’s entourage have been at loggerheads since the publication of an explosive report on the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood in France. While a consensus is beginning to emerge on the findings, the suggested solutions are sowing discord.
Macron considered the proposals put forward by the interior minister to be largely insufficient .
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, seen by some as Macron’s potential successor, has upped the ante by proposing to ban the wearing of the Islamic veil by minors under the age of 15, saying the practice “seriously undermines gender equality and child protection.” He intends to propose a bill to this effect in the coming days. He also suggested creating an offence of ‘coercion to wear the veil’ against parents who force their daughters to do so—which seems obvious in the case of a 5- or 6-year-old girl wearing a veil, as has been observed in a sports club in the Nevers region, for example.
But the seemingly forceful measure has sparked a storm of criticism, including from within Attal’s own camp. A former minister, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told BFM TV: “It’s distressing. They say they didn’t check whether it was constitutional. Well, you know what? It isn’t. Nothing is working.” The Macron supporter denounced an ‘obsession’ with these issues: “We have become the only country in Europe to invade public discourse with these issues. Even Meloni doesn’t do that,” as if that were the ultimate argument.
On the Right, people are no more convinced. The editor-in-chief of the investigative media outlet Frontières, Érik Tegnér, believes that “Gabriel Attal is out of touch” and is ten years behind in understanding the phenomenon. Jordan Bardella, president of the RN, points out on X that, during the 2022 presidential campaign, Attal attacked the RN for its desire to ban the veil from public spaces. “Desperately trying to get people talking about you and to exist is worth a few 180-degree U-turns,” Bardella concluded sarcastically on X.
On the Left, Attal’s proposal once again fuels the accusations of Islamophobia, which are constantly being levelled by members of the Socialist Party and La France Insoumise—even though Attal insists that he is “not confusing Islam, which is compatible with the values of the Republic, with Islamism.”
The former prime minister, who sees himself as Macron’s successor and is challenging his rival Edouard Philippe, the favourite in the polls, is accused of political opportunism on this issue and of “doing a Retailleau” to boost his popularity—without managing to convince anyone of his sincerity or the relevance of the measure.
Despite the criticism, Attal’s entourage says he is confident that the bill will be passed. The constitutional obstacle has already been invoked for similar measures in the past, which were not censored by the Constitutional Council despite threats from their detractors: the wearing of ostentatious religious symbols or the abaya in schools and the wearing of the burqa in public places have indeed been banned.
The real problem lies elsewhere: there are already a multitude of provisions in French law prohibiting the veil or the compulsory wearing of it—but they are not enforced.
