The Elysée Palace wanted to take time to reflect and listen before responding to the fundamental issues raised by the riots that shook the country for eight days in June and July, following the death of Nahel M., a 17-year-old boy killed by a police officer during a traffic stop in Nanterre, a northwestern Paris suburb, on June 27.

In the late afternoon of Thursday, October 26, in the auditorium of the Sorbonne University in Paris, before an audience of some 250 mayors whose towns had been affected by the summer's urban violence, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne took the floor to present a series of measures designed to "reassert authority and republican order," as her office had announced that morning. The response is meant "go far beyond the question of the quartiers and banlieues," stressed the prime minister in her speech, using French terms that refer to underprivileged urban neighborhoods. A third of the towns affected by the riots have no "priority neigborhoods," officially designated areas supposed to house additional public services to compensate for the concentration of underprivileged households.

In addition to the immediate repressive security response – almost 1,800 people have received prison sentences for riot-related offenses – French President Emmanuel Macron promised the "return of authority, at every level, and first and foremost in the family."

While the prime minister kicked off her speech by announcing the allocation of €100 million to help local authorities repair and rebuild public buildings partially or totally destroyed during the riots, in supplement to insurance compensation, the rest of the solutions she announced were in keeping with this tough stance. Some were rehashed ideas, others were simply food for thought.

There were some new features, though, particularly in the areas of juvenile justice and parental accountability, which the government has been emphasizing since the early days of the urban unrest. These include a new obligation to comply with an assignment to a daytime educational center, for minors under legal supervision, a probation period or conditional release. In the words of Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti, the aim is to ensure very strict monitoring of juvenile offenders. They will be required to take part in activities proposed by educational staff, and will be subject to stricter school supervision. Failure to comply will result in placement in an educational penitentiary facility or in detention.

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