US EditionIs it illegal for the French to remove the EU flag from town halls?
- On Sunday, March 29, Carcassonne Mayor Christophe Barthès posted a video removing the European Union flag from his town hall, reflecting his Eurosceptic views and mirroring an executive order style.
- Newly elected National Rally mayors in towns like Harnes and Cagnes-sur-Mer have similarly removed European flags, citing frustration with policies they perceive as undermining French farmers and regional interests.
- French municipalities possess the legal freedom to decide whether to display the European flag, as no current national law mandates its presence on town halls outside specific occasions like Europe Day.
- Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot condemned the move as a "betrayal" of France's European commitments, while National Rally leader Marine Le Pen defended the mayors' choice as legitimate.
- Legislation requiring the display of the European flag passed the National Assembly in 2023 but remains stalled in the Senate, leaving municipalities free to decide flag placement for now.
17 Articles
17 Articles
Some newly elected mayors have begun to remove them from town halls, creating a case on which leaders Le Pen and Bardella have different sensibilities
For the president of the Renew Group in the European Parliament, this polemic demonstrates the extreme right-wing party's willingness to leave the EU and its inability to assume the highest positions in our country.
Great excitement in France: Some newly elected mayors of the right-wing populist party Rassenmblement National (RN) of Marine Le Pen have caught up with the European flag at their town halls. Christophe Barthès, the new mayor of the South French Carcassonne, let himself be filmed taking off the blue EU flag hanging next to the French flag. "Away with the European flags at the town hall! Place for the French flags," Barthès wrote on Platform X.
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- 45% of the sources lean Left, 44% of the sources lean Right
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