the report of the committee of experts submitted Tuesday to Emmanuel Macron

The working group responsible for making proposals to regulate the time spent in front of screens by children must present its conclusions on Tuesday at the Élysée.

The committee of experts responsible for working on the exposure of young people to screens will submit its report to Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday April 30, franceinfo learned from the Élysée. The submission of this report was expected at the end of March, but “taking into account the expectations raised” the committee of experts has “asked to extend the working time in order to consolidate his thoughts and arrive at more complete recommendations”, explained the Palace at the beginning of April. At the time, he insisted on his “desire to move forward quickly” on this topic.

On January 16, Emmanuel Macron announced the creation of this working group attached to the Élysée, composed of ten members “to complementary expertise and disciplines (education, research, law, associative and private commitment)”. It is co-chaired by Servane Mouton, doctor of medicine, neurophysiologist and neurologist, as well as by Amine Benyamina, head of the department of psychiatry and addictology at the Paul-Brousse university hospital, in Villejuif (Val-de-Marne).

At the beginning of April, the Élysée reminded franceinfo of the “mission” of this committee of experts: “bring to light a shared observation on the impact of screens, in particular on the physical and mental health of young people and their development, evaluate the effectiveness of the regulatory systems put in place since 2017 and propose an adapted action strategy to better understand the role of screens among young people”.

A bill submitted

In the meantime, the Republicans have taken up the subject. At the beginning of April, two of their deputies, Annie Genevard and Antoine Vermorel-Marques, announced the tabling of a bill to regulate the use of screens in the presence of children under three years old. The two elected officials want in particular to prohibit any exposure to tablets, televisions and telephones for children, looked after by a childminder or in a nursery.

To do this, they propose, for example, that “the ban on access to screens is clearly mentioned in [la liste] approval criteria” which are issued to professionals and “in the contract which binds childminders to the children”specified Annie Genevard on April 7 on franceinfo.