A major political meeting just over three weeks before the first round of the presidential election. The program “Elysée 2022” on France 2 received, Thursday March 17, the far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, the socialist Anne Hidalgo as well as the sovereignist Nicolas Dupont-Aignan.
The leader of Reconquest! debated with Yannick Jadot, environmentalist pretender to the Elysée, on Europe and immigration issues in particular. The mayor of Paris for her part faced the president of the group La République en Marche (LREM) in the National Assembly, Christophe Castaner, for a debate centered on education and pensions. The candidate and president of Debout la France, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan, meanwhile spoke with the deputy and spokesperson for LREM Roland Lescure. Pensions, immigration, education… Franceinfo verified nine statements that marked the evening.
1Did Eric Zemmour say his “respect” and “maybe [son] admiration” for the Hyper Cacher terrorists, as declared by Yannick Jadot? Partly true
“You are the one who expressed your respect, and perhaps your admiration, for the terrorists who killed at the Hyper Cacher.”
Yannick Jadot to Eric Zemmourin “Elysée 2022”
In a magazine interview talker in 2016, the current president of Reconquête! asserted “respect people willing to die for what they believe in”refusing to qualify them “weak minds”. Following Eric Zemmour’s remarks, the National Federation of Victims of Attacks and Collective Accidents (Fenvac) filed a complaint. The Paris prosecutor’s office had opened a preliminary investigation for apology for terrorism, closed without further action in 2017.
2Is there “50% failure in first year at university” today in France, as Eric Zemmour says? Rather true
“[Aujourd’hui en France, il y a] 50% failure in first year at university”
Eric Zemmourin “Elysée 2022”
The far-right candidate is rather right: in 2020, the success rate of 2019 baccalaureate holders enrolled in L1 (first year of a license) was 54%, i.e. a failure rate of 46%, according to a note from the Ministry of higher education and research. The success rate in 2020 was nevertheless up eight points compared to last year.
3Are a third of the refugees from Ukraine non-Ukrainians, as Eric Zemmour asserts? False
“We are already discovering (…) that among these so-called Ukrainian refugees, there are a third of Algerians, Moroccans, Africans, who have slipped into this opening of the Schengen corridor.”
Eric Zemmourin “Elysée 2022”
Asked about the reception of refugees in France fleeing the war in Ukraine, Eric Zemmour quoted an article from Figaro (for subscribers) published on March 8. The daily ensures that “almost one in three refugees is not Ukrainian”, without however explicitly giving the source of this information. This figure has since been taken up by several personalities supporting Eric Zemmour, such as Nicolas Bay or Marion Maréchal.
The Ministry of the Interior contradicted these figures with our colleagues from Mediacités. Thus, as of March 14, 14,631 people had entered France since February 25 and the start of the war. Among them, 14,275 were registered as being of Ukrainian nationality, or 97.5%. Non-Ukrainians represented 2.5% of those received in France, and not almost a third.
Asked by Mediacités about the “third” of non-Ukrainians mentioned by Le Figarothe Director General of the French Office for Immigration and Integration explains that “in the very first days, there were more non-Ukrainians than Ukrainians who remained in border countries close to their families still there”. Nevertheless, “over time, the percentage of non-Ukrainians has totally decreased because Ukrainians have started to seek refuge elsewhere than at the border”adds Didier Leschi.
4Is the simple past now only taught from the 5th, as Eric Zemmour implies? rather wrong
“Today, we learn the simple past in fifth (…) In my childhood, like my children, we learned the simple past in CE2.”
Eric Zemmourin “Elysée 2022”
Asked about education, Eric Zemmour assured that the conjugation programs have evolved. Since the entry into force of the new school programs in 2016, the simple past is approached from the third cycle, that is to say in CM1, CM2 and in sixth. So before the fifth, contrary to what Eric Zemmour suggests. In the 2008 programs, schoolchildren learned the past simple from CE2, raised in 2018 20 minutes. The 2016 reform therefore only postponed the start of this apprenticeship by one year.
5Did Emmanuel Macron remove “the hardship criteria to remove the possibility of early retirement”, as Anne Hidalgo declared? Rather true
“[Emmanuel Macron a] deleted what are called hardship criteria (…) to remove the possibility of early retirement, for example for those who have been exposed to chemicals, who have carried heavy loads.
Anne Hidalgoin “Elysée 2022
In October 2017, the professional prevention account replaced the personal hardship prevention account. Four of the ten hardship factors recognized under this system, which made it possible to accumulate training rights, to reduce working hours, or to retire earlier, were then removed. These are manual handling of loads, painful postures, mechanical vibrations and chemical risk, accused by employers of being too difficult to measure.
The early departure of an employee following exposure to one of these four criteria nevertheless remains possible. However, this only concerns cases of “occupational disease” related to one of these four factors and when “the permanent disability rate exceeds 10%”explains the government.
6Are French teachers “twice as much” paid as in Germany or the Netherlands, as Anne Hidalgo says? Rather true
“Teachers in France are paid half as much, for example, as in Germany or the Netherlands.”
Anne Hidalgoin “Elysée 2022”
The order of magnitude of the socialist candidate is rather fair. OECD indicators (2019) confirm this gap, at least between France and Germany. In primary education, a teacher earns 31,300 US dollar equivalent per year in France when starting out. This is twice less than a German teacher (63,257), and 1.33 times less than a Dutch teacher (41,632). At the maximum level, a French teacher earns 55,086 equivalent dollars, ie 1.5 times less than in Germany (83,178), and 1.24 times less than in the Netherlands (68,525).
The difference is even clearer in lower secondary education. The French teacher receives 32,941 equivalent dollars a year at the start of his career, more than half that of his German colleague (69,735 equivalent dollars) and 1.3 times less than his Dutch colleague (44,215 equivalent dollars). At the maximum level, the French teacher earns 56,889 equivalent dollars annually, 91,510 for the German, and 90,639 for the Dutch.
On a more global scale, “compared to the average for OECD countries, a French teacher at the start of his career earns 7% less than this average; after ten or fifteen years of service, the gap rises to 20%”assesses Eric Charbonnier, an analyst specializing in education at the OECD, with France 2.
7Isn’t there a prison sentence for sentences of less than six months, as Nicolas Dupont-Aignan says? True
“Below a firm six-month sentence, there is no prison and a magistrate does not even have the right to bring a sentence [de] less than a month.”
Nicolas Dupont-Aignanin “Elysée 2022”
The sovereignist candidate refers to the law of March 23, 2019 of programming 2018-2022 and reform for justice which modified the scale of sentences and the conditions of their development. It provides that small prison sentences, less than or equal to six months, be adjusted (at home under an electronic bracelet, in placement outside or in semi-freedom), except “impossibility resulting either from the personality or from the situation of the convicted person”, specifies the portal of the French administration. The text also prohibits the imposition of firm sentences of less than one month, deemed ineffective.
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan however forgets to specify that, when the prison sentence is more than one year, it cannot be arranged before its execution. If the sentence is less than or equal to five years, and when two-thirds of the sentence has already been served, article 83 of the law provides for an examination of the prisoner’s situation by the sentence enforcement judge. “in order to order a release under duress”.
8 Has the number of students per teacher decreased under Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term, as Christophe Castaner claims? Rather true
“In 2016, there were 17.68 students per class. Today, there are 17.29 students per class per teacher, on average.”
Christopher Castanerin “Elysée 2022”
Faced with Anne Hidalgo, Christophe Castaner defended Emmanuel Macron’s record on school. The figures he put forward are very close to those noted by franceinfo. At the start of the 2022 school year, there was one teacher for 16.8 pupils in the first degree, according to the direction of the evaluation of prospective and performance. There were 17.1 in 2021 and 18.3 in 2017. If the trajectory of France is going well towards a reduction in the workforce, the latter were rather high compared to other European countries in 2019, observes Eurostat.
In addition, since not all teachers are full-time or full-year, if we look at the average number of students per class (and not for a teacher), the numbers turn out to be higher. The Ministry of National Education speaks of 23.2 pupils per class in pre-elementary and 21.9 pupils per class in elementary on average at the start of the 2020 school year.
9Did Nicolas Dupont-Aignan say that “the Notre-Dame fire was not accidental, implying that it was perhaps the result of an attack”? Rather true
“You said the Notre-Dame fire was not accidental, implying that it may have been the result of an attack.”
Roland Lescure to Nicolas Dupont-Aignanin “Elysée 2022”
At the end of the program, Roland Lescure, spokesperson for La République en Marche, reminded the candidate of Debout la France of his many questions about the origin of the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral in April 2019. On the evening of the tragedy, Nicolas Dupont-Aignan wondered about Twitter : “We must now understand the origin of this disaster! The suffering French people have the right to know the truth.” Questioned on the forecourt of the cathedral, where he had gone shortly after, he had hammered: “You have to know if it’s an accident or if it’s an attack”as reported 20 minutes.
While the thesis of the accident has been privileged by the investigators since the start of the investigation, the president of Debout la France maintains his position, in a documentary on the origins of the disaster, broadcast by Russia Today on April 15, 2020, notes Release. “Everything was done to make it look like an accident. And, like all French people, I found this haste and this thesis unlikely.”