This Tuesday, October 11, the examination of the orientation and programming bill for the Ministry of the Interior (Lopmi) began by the senators. It provides “new human, legal, budgetary and material resources” to Place Beauvau. The text provides over five years, from 2023 to 2027, 15 billion euros in additional credits for the ministry, compared to the credits allocated in 2022. The 2023 budget is already planned for a sharp increase (+6%) to 22 billion euros. euros.
These investments should first make it possible to strengthen the gendarmerie workforce with the creation of new intervention units and brigades, but also to double the presence of law enforcement on public roads and to widely develop digital tools.
The senators also amended the text in committee. Indeed, they believe that certain offenses require their sanctions to be toughened to be more dissuasive. The amendment here concerns the penalties for violence against elected officials, refusals to comply by drivers and the practice of urban rodeo.
In order to punish more severely a driver's refusal to comply: the penalty incurred would increase from two to three years' imprisonment and the amount of the fine to €30.000.
Urban rodeos “which expose others to the risk of death” or serious injury would be punishable by five years' imprisonment and a fine of €75.000 (compared to one year's imprisonment and €15.000 excluding aggravating circumstances currently).
Finally, the penalties incurred in the event of an attack against an elected official would be aligned with those provided for attacks against the security forces.
The government wanted to generalize the criminal fixed fine (AFD) to all offenses punishable by less than one year in prison. In committee, senators limited its expansion to around ten new offenses such as tagging, the offense of obstructing traffic, the unjustified use of alarm signals on trains, etc.
