What are the consequences of the State of Emergency in France for sports-related tourists?

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If you are a tourist, the state of emergency may not affect your stay in France expect if matches or stages are cancelled for security reasons. On the other hand, if you are a hooligan, the state of emergy can become your worst nghtmare: avoid France!

You can find the law describing the consequences of the state of emergency of the website Legifrance.gouv.fr. The law "Loi n° 55-385 du 3 avril 1955 relative à l'état d'urgence" extends the power of the Department of Homeland Security "Ministère de l'interieur" and chiefs of police "prefet".

In the end, the consequences of the state of emergency are in the hands of the french Departement of Homeland Security. Motiviations to take actions are security and order, and tourists are warmly welcomed in France, including football fans and cyclists. Yet, the state of emergency can be used against holligans or can affect the pleasure of sport fans as matches or stages of the Tour de France could be suppressed as a collateral damage of threats to security and fear of terrorism.

Among the possible consequences of the state of emergency for foreign tourits attending sport events:

  • Article 5 : restriction of circulation of people and vehicules in particular areas, restricted areas
  • Article 8 : concert halls, bars and any meeting places (including stadiums) can be closed by the local chief of police or the head of Homeland Security. Any meeting which can affect security can be prohibited.
  • Article 6 : If there are serious reasons to suspect that someone threaten security or order, this man can be assigned to residence by the head of Homeland Security. His passport and id card can be withdrawn, in which case a temporary paper is issued as id.

For the moment, these prerogatives are mainly used to prevent terrorism, following the attacks of November. Example of use of the state of emergency which can be related to your question:

  • ref1 Before the football match between Mulhouse and Grenoble, on 17/11/2015, a fight bewteen football fans/hooligans started near the stadium of Mulhouse. Supporters of Grenoble were prohibited in the stadium by the chief of police and their seats remained empty... See also the decree of the Departement of Homeland security on 27/11/2015, which prevented supporters of Shakhtar Donetsk from attending a match in Ile-de-France 7/12/2015, supporters of Rubin Kazan in Bordeaux on 9/12/2015, supporters of Lazio de Rome in Saint-Etienne on 9/12/2015... This situation occured 94 times in France between 30/11/2015 and 14/12/2015 because policemen were occupied protecting us from terrorism. Later, on 16/01/2016, the administative tribunal of Chalons-en-Champagne has validated the prohibition of fans from Rennes in the stadium of Troyes, even if the measure was motivated by the fact that policemen were occupied protecting shopping malls during a sales period [ref1].
  • ref2 : some proactive ecologists were assigned to residence during COP21. And the World March for Climate on 29/11/2015 was forbidden for fear of terrorism.

On the other hand, there are actually demonstrations against the project of law on working conditions and the movement "Nuit Debout" still holds on the Republic Place. Tourist are really welcome in France and Frenchmen are commited to turn the sport events of this summer into safe and joyful celebrations.

Upvote:3

Not much. I would expect extensive security measures around these events and that might create delays or inconvenience but that's not related to the state of emergency per se.

Legally speaking, what the state of emergency allows is home searches by the police outside of the regular procedure (i.e. without judicial oversight), forcing named people to present themselves several times a day to the police and a few other things that visitors have no reason to notice.

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