The scene takes place on Friday, September 2, in the evening, at the Élysée. Emmanuel Macron invited a hundred guests to the village hall, raising the actress Line Renaud, 94, to the rank of Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. And at the end of his speech, the President declares: “Your fight for the right to die with dignity obliges us. Now is the time to do it… We will.“
>> End of life: “vote as soon as possible”, pleads Line Renaud with the deputies
It looks like a political announcement, and it is, even if the Elysée then tried to demine, speaking of a private exchange. Proof of this is: a little later in the evening, Emmanuel Macron even confided to guests (to whom franceinfo was able to speak) that he wanted to pass a law in 2023 after a broad consultation.
The subject takes shape politically, and it is therefore not over: according to our information, the Elysée is actually working on announcing the launch of a Citizens’ Convention on the end of life. Emmanuel Macron would thus like to bring together the various actors involved in this issue. And in the coming days, the President could thus announce method and timetable.
And for good reason: the end of life is a promise of the candidate Macron. He had mentioned it during the presentation of his 2022 program, just like in 2017, before abandoning it. Except that behind the scenes, the defenders of euthanasia did not release the pressure: the deputy Olivier Falorni thus tried to pass a law in 2021. “Yaël Braun-Pivet has been actively lobbying for 5 years“, assures a close friend of the new President of the Assembly, who confirms that she will push the text if it does indeed come back to Parliament. The Social Affairs Committee plans in particular to launch an evaluation mission in parallel with the Citizens’ Convention .
Doesn’t the executive fear a risk of political confrontation? In Macronie, in any case, we are betting that a citizens’ convention will make it possible to appease the subject. “If civil society agrees, it will be more difficult for parliament to oppose it“explains a minister who supports euthanasia. The subject is generally consensus on the left, and a little in the center. “Only Catholics will try to kill the project“, brags an important adviser to the Assembly. Opponents of euthanasia believe that palliative care is not developed enough, a line that is also found in the Ministry of Health.
So, is the match already played before the citizens’ convention? “What are we going to discuss if we know it’s already decided?“, annoys the anti-euthanasia lawyer Erwan le Morhedec. On the end of life, it is the beginning of the announcements … but not the end of the debate.