The Minister of the Interior revealed this Thursday, July 24, on Thursday, July 24th plan to combat fireworks, which he describes “as a favorite weapons of these barbarians” targeting the police and the firefighters. A law will soon be presented to strengthen sanctions.
Place Beauveau is attacking the fireworks. Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of the Interior, unveiled this Thursday, July 24, since a police station in the 20th arrondissement of Paris The three main lines for the fight against fireworks.
Ads, which were listed in parallel with a medal presentation to a police officer, precisely injured by one of these explosions on the evening of strong violence on the sidelines of the coronation of PSG in the Champions League.
“Here we have France which engages against France which takes place. The France of the heroes against the France of the bastards”, castigated the Minister of the Interior, before deploring “a disinhibited and decivalized youth”.
Bruno Retailleau thus mentioned the measures he wishes to put in place in order to fight against the fireworks, described as “weapons of predilection of these barbarians” targeting the police or the firefighters, animated “by an anti-flict and anti-state hatred”.
• Strengthen controls
First point mentioned by the Minister, the development of controls “everywhere in France” in order to identify these fireworks upstream. The Minister was precisely accompanied by the Paris police prefect, Laurent Nunez, just days after major checks in the Paris region around July 14 against these easily found explosive devices in trade.
From 2022 to 2024, the use of these weapons “jumped 150%” according to Bruno Retailleau, who now hopes to “tighten the emails of the net”.
The recent controls carried out in France allowed the entry “of 11,068” machines and the arrest of 170 people.
• heavier sanctions
Another objective targeted by the tenant of Place Beauvau, “strengthen” sanctions in France. “Today the sorrows are not sufficiently heavy, dissuasive,” said Bruno Retailleau.
Thus, at the start of the school year, the latter will propose a law aimed at punishing the sale of the most dangerous mortars to non-professionals of one year in prison and three if the buyer is a minor. The text would also punish three to five years in prison the holders of the fireworks if their purchase was from the start “the destruction of property of others” or “the attack on human lives”.
Bruno Retailleau also wishes to strengthen the Pharos platform in order to more easily close the sites that sell these fireworks online.
• Strengthen European cooperation
Last point raised, the “need” to strengthen the cooperation of all European countries in this area.
“These weapons do not fall from the sky, but often come from China and go through several European countries like Poland and the Czech Republic,” quotes the minister.
During a recent meeting with its European counterparts, Bruno Retailleau “posed on the table” several measures such as harmonization throughout the old continent of the categorization of fireworks and thus improve their traceability.
He also wishes to strengthen controls everywhere and proposes to prohibit the most dangerous devices by revising “much firmly” the current European directive in force on the subject.
