Macron announces “rules” for Islam in France

French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday that work will begin on “frameworks and rules” for Islam in France, agencies report.

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In his annual address to a joint session of parliament, the French president stated that “France has no reason to have more problems with Islam than with any other religion”.

However, he said, “there is a radical, aggressive reading of Islam that calls into question our rules and laws as a free state and society whose principles do not heed religious slogans”.

French governments have been trying for years to figure out how to deal with the growing popularity of rigid and radical interpretations of Islam in impoverished suburbs with a high proportion of immigrant-origin population.

Macron stated that “the vast majority” of French Muslims approve of secularism where “society and the state respect believers, and believers respect society and the principles of the state that belongs to everyone”.

“Therefore, starting in the fall, we will clarify this situation by giving Islam a framework and rules, with the guarantee that it will be practiced everywhere in accordance with the laws of the Republic,” he said.

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“We will do this with the French people who belong to that religion and its representatives,” he promised.

Strict French law on the separation of church and state and the absence of a hierarchy in Sunni Islam have so far made it difficult for French authorities to find interlocutors, i.e., organizations that could act as Islamic religious leadership.

The true border of Europe is the one that divides progressives from nationalists

In his speech, Macron also stated that the true border in Europe is the one that divides “progressives” from “nationalists” and sought to respond to criticisms that the president belongs to the elites.

“The real border that runs through Europe today is the one that divides progressives from nationalists. (…) It will be difficult, but the struggle is clearly set,” Macron said, announcing that it will be “at the center of the European elections in 2019”.

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The European elections in 2019 are of crucial importance, assessed Macron, who advocates for the renewal of the European project towards a “more sovereign, united, and democratic Europe”.

“As there is a great opportunity at the heart of any threat, we will find the keys to European power, European independence, and European awareness of tomorrow in this crisis, after 70 years of peace during which we have too often lost sight of the very meaning of Europe,” continued Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking about the “French project” of reforming Europe, which faces the weakening of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the constant rise of populism, even in founding Union states like Italy, Emmanuel Macron stated that this project has already achieved “real progress that some thought was impossible”.

In his speech, the French president also sought to respond to critics who labeled him as the “president of the rich” and accused him of being elitist, arrogant, and out of touch with the people.

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His 90-minute speech was in many aspects an acknowledgment that he has alienated a portion of voters, particularly through a series of reforms that favor the business sector, but he emphasized that they were necessary to revive the economy and strengthen France.

“I know I cannot do everything, I know I cannot succeed in everything,” said the former banker to the deputies, calling himself “humble but determined”.