we verified eight assertions during the debate between Gabriel Attal, Jordan Bardella and Olivier Faure

Three blocs for three social projects. On France 2, Thursday, June 27, representatives of the main national political forces debated one last time before the first round of early legislative elections on Sunday. Olivier Faure (New Popular Front-Socialist Party), Gabriel Attal (Ensemble-Renaissance) and Jordan Bardella (National Rally) engaged in lively exchanges in the final stretch of this short campaign.

Franceinfo has examined eight assertions made during this often tense debate, reflecting the campaign.

Jordan Bardella claims “responsibility for national defense” if he becomes Prime Minister: it’s more nuanced

“The Constitution stipulates that obviously the one who has responsibility for national defense is the Prime Minister.”

Jordan Bardella

on France 2

The president of the RN and Gabriel Attal argued over the distribution of roles between Matignon and the Elysée to define France’s defense policy, in the case of cohabitation. In The Telegramon Wednesday morning, Marine Le Pen had estimated that Emmanuel Macron would only be head of the armed forces“honorary” .

Without using this term again, Jordan Bardella judged the interview “perfect”and developed a similar reading of the Constitution. “I will be respectful of the institutions, of the function of the President of the Republic, but uncompromising on the policy for which I was elected”he hammered home, promising in particular that“There will be no French soldiers sent to Ukrainian soil” if he runs the government.

“Article 15 of the Constitution states in black and white that the President of the Republic is the head of the armed forces. From this point of view, it is not an honorary title. Furthermore, he chairs the Defense Council which is an important place of decision-making” specifies public law professor Mathieu Carpentier to Release .

On the other hand, according to articles 20 and 21 of the Constitution , “the government determines and conducts the policy of the nation” And “has administration and armed force”while the Prime Minister “is responsible for national defense”. For lawyers, a political standoff could therefore begin between Emmanuel Macron and a cohabitation Prime Minister in the event of disagreement.

For Olivier Faure, Ukraine does not want foreign troops fighting on the ground: it’s true

“Sending ground troops is absolutely not requested, including by [Volodymyr] Zelensky or by the Ukrainians. So it is absolutely useless. And when the President of the Republic proposed it, he simply succeeded in dividing the Europeans.”

Olivier Faure

on France 2

Himself opposed to sending French troops to the territory of Ukraine, Olivier Faure assured that such a commitment, considered on several occasions by Emmanuel Macron, “is absolutely not requested” by kyiv.

This was indeed what the White House spokesperson recalled on March 5: Volodymyr Zelensky “never asked for foreign troops to fight for his country. He asks for tools and capabilities”recalled John Kirby. The Ukrainian president himself assured this on BFMTV on March 11: “As long as Ukraine holds, the French army can remain on French territory”. He did not, however, refuse the sending of “technical staff”who would not go to Ukraine to fight.

Jordan Bardella accuses the New Popular Front of wanting to “disarm the police”: this is false

“I will not say that, as a matter of principle, there is police violence, that our police officers are guilty and that the police must be disarmed, as the New Popular Front wishes to do.”

Jordan Bardella

on France 2

Hammering home his will to “restore the authority of the State”, Jordan Bardella accused the New Popular Front, by contrast, of wanting “disarm the police”. However, the left-wing alliance has set itself the ambition, in addition to the reestablishment of community policing, “to ban LBDs and mutilating grenades”as she writes in her program. It is therefore a question of taking away from the police two weapons which they have today, but not of “disarm” in full.

Six out of ten women are paid the minimum wage, assures Olivier Faure: this is false

“60% of women are on minimum wage today, often women who are raising their children alone”

Olivier Faure

on France 2

During an exchange with Gabriel Attal, Olivier Faure affirmed that “60% of women are on minimum wage today, often women who raise their children alone.” But the first secretary of the PS is mixing his brushes. In reality, nearly 60% of people on the minimum wage (a little more than 57% to be exact) are women, according to statistics from the Ministry of Labor (PDF file). Which is far from meaning that 57% of all French women are paid the minimum wage.

Around 900,000 illegal immigrants are present on French soil, according to Jordan Bardella: this is exaggerated

“Today we have 900,000 illegal immigrants on French territory.”

Jordan Bardella

on France 2

By evoking the “900 000 illegal immigrants” on French territory, the RN MEP takes the upper range of an estimate by Gérald Darmanin put forward in the fall of 2022. “The Minister of the Interior estimated ‘between 600,000 and 900,000’ the number of people present irregularly on the national territory during his hearing in the Senate”explained senators Muriel Jourda and Philippe Bonnecarrère, in a November 2022 report.

A quarter of CPME members say they would lay off workers if the minimum wage increased to 1,600 euros: it’s true

“When we say that we are raising the minimum wage [à] 1,600 euros, the CPME, which represents SME bosses, conducted a survey among its members. One in four said they would be forced to lay off staff if these charges were increased.”

Gabriel Attal

on France 2

To criticize the promise of the New Popular Front to raise the minimum wage to 1,600 euros net monthly, Gabriel Attal highlighted a survey published by the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises. A quarter of the bosses questioned “declared that he will be forced to make redundancies” if the measure is applied, says the Prime Minister. “It’s wrong”, retorted Olivier Faure.

This is, however, the result of the survey conducted by the CPME among a thousand of its members, bosses of very small businesses and SMEs. “The idea of ​​the New Popular Front to increase the minimum wage to 1,600 euros net per month is poorly received by leaders, 41% of whom would take drastic measures”writes the CPME in its summary of the results. “Nearly three in ten (27%) would lay off some of their staff to save their business”. “It was the CPME which carried out a survey”insisted Gabriel Attal on the set of France 2. “It’s still false”insisted Olivier Faure, suggesting that he did not believe that this threat would materialize if the minimum wage really increased.

Jordan Bardella assures that energy from wind turbines cannot be stored: this is false

“Wind turbines, a quarter of the time, run idle. And energy, by definition, cannot be stored.”

Jordan Bardella

on France 2

Attacked on his rejection of wind turbines, Jordan Bardella, who wishes “a moratorium on all new construction”put forward several arguments to contest the usefulness of this source of electricity. According to him, “Wind turbines run idle a quarter of the time” And “energy by definition cannot be stored”.

This is false. In reality, the energy produced by wind turbines is used, stored or sold on the markets. According to energy expert Nicolas Goldberg, “wind turbines do not turn empty”and to assert the opposite is “an abuse of language”. He explains in particular that factories today know “shift their production to use this energy”. Furthermore, according to Cédric Philibert, former analyst at the International Energy Agency, wind energy “maybe sstored, in batteries for example”.

In Paris, 75% of violence against women in the street is committed by foreigners, says Jordan Bardella: this is misleading

“In Paris, 75% of violence committed against women in the street is committed by foreigners”

Jordan Bardella

on France 2

Asked about women’s rights, Jordan Bardella hammered home the idea of ​​a link between the fight against violence and against immigration, again putting forward a figure mentioned during his solo debate with Gabriel Attal at the end of May.

It comes from an article published in April by Europe 1, which is based on statistics from the Paris police headquarters. According to the radio, out of 97 rapes committed in the streets of the capital recorded by the police in 2023, 30 were solved. And among the 36 people arrested in this context, 28 are of foreign nationality, which is equivalent to 77% of those accused.

One clarification is important, however: rapes committed in the streets are often committed by homeless or undocumented people, categories of the population in which foreigners are overrepresented compared to their share in the French population. Furthermore, rapes committed in the street, especially those whose perpetrators are identified and arrested, represent only a small minority of all rapes committed in the capital and in France more generally. The figures reported by Europe 1 therefore do not allow us to draw general conclusions about sexual violence in France.