the Council of State examines the appeal of the municipality

The Council of State examines this Tuesday in Paris the appeal filed by the municipality of Grenoble after the suspension by the administrative court of the city of a controversial provision authorizing the wearing of the burkini in municipal swimming pools. The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m.

The Grenoble city council had authorized the use of burkini-type swimsuits in mid-May, as well as topless bathing for women, in the swimming pools of the Isère city. But a few days later, the administrative court of Grenoble had ordered the suspension of this measure following the filing by the prefect of Isère of a “secular referral”.

The judges considered that article 10 of the new Grenoble swimming pool regulations would allow users to derogate “from the general rule of the obligation to wear close-fitting outfits to allow certain users to free themselves from this rule in a religious purpose”, and that its authors had thereby “seriously undermined the principle of neutrality of the public service”. The environmental mayor of Grenoble Eric Piolle immediately announced his intention to appeal the suspension to the Council of State.

A measure that is not unanimous…

The new regulations for swimming pools in Grenoble had been adopted by the municipal council by a narrow majority. Some allies of the environmentalist mayor had disassociated themselves from the project. Eric Piolle defended him a “choice of simplicity”.

This measure makes it possible, according to him, “to ensure equal access to public services (…) while respecting health and safety”. Grenoble is not the first city to have taken this initiative: Rennes, in Ille-et-Vilaine, thus modified its regulations in 2018 and the burkini has since been authorized in swimming pools.

… and which even provokes controversy

But as regularly on subjects related to Islamic culture (veil, burkini, halal food) and its relationship to secularism in France, the decision of the City of Grenoble has sparked a national controversy. Marine Le Pen (RN) had thus seen in the burkini an “Islamist propaganda garment”, when the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin had denounced a “community provocation, contrary to our values”.

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This is not the first time the wearing of the burkini has sparked a national political storm. A few years ago, dozens of French cities had issued “anti-burkini orders”. If some had been canceled following a decision of the Council of State, others had been validated by justice.

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Towards a law to regulate the practice?

On the right and on the far right, several political figures, like Christian Jacob (Les Républicains) have again asked for more “supervision” of the wearing of the burkini via a law. On the majority side, MP Pierre-Yves Bournazel (Horizons), close to former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, considered that public swimming pools are “a place of neutrality” and “if necessary, the law should to slice “.

Marine Le Pen, she indicated that the deputies of the National Rally “will propose a law to ban it definitively” at the end of the legislative elections. In Grenoble, the summer opening of municipal swimming pools is scheduled from June 25 to August 28.

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