French MEP Céline Imart has called for considering the dissolution of left-wing movement La France Insoumise, accusing it of deliberately fuelling confrontation.
Imart, a member of the European Parliament for France’s Les Républicains party, part of the EPP group, told French media on Thursday evening that she believes authorities should make full use of existing powers to restore order on the streets following student protests that have escaladed across the countries this week.
La France Insoumise, the movement founded by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and often known as LFI, must answer for its confrontational strategy, she argued. “The question of its dissolution must clearly be raised,” she wrote on X on Friday.
Her post also called for fuller enforcement of France’s “anti-casseurs” law, legislation aimed at preventing and punishing violence during demonstrations.
Public order and proportionality
She tagged fellow conservative politician Bruno Retailleau, who introduced the original bill in the French Senate in June 2018 alongside other senators; the legislation became law in April 2019.
The law introduced powers allowing police, with a prosecutor’s authorisation, to search bags and vehicles at or immediately around demonstrations for weapons. It also provided for courts to bar individuals from demonstrations in certain circumstances.
Dissolving an organisation however involves a completely separate legal framework: France’s internal security code permits dissolution by cabinet decree on specified grounds, including incitement to violence against people or property.
That power is subject to judicial scrutiny. In a 2023 ruling, the Council of State, France’s highest administrative court, stressed that dissolution seriously restricts freedom of association and must be necessary and proportionate to the threat to public order.
