Bad news for the Paris 2024 COJO: the courts have ruled against the plan to requisition student housing to accommodate a few thousand accredited guests during the Games. At the end of last week, the Paris Administrative Court suspended the decision by CROUS, the organization in charge of managing student residences, to limit leases on student accommodation to June 30, 2024. The aim of this highly controversial initiative was to free up 3,000 housing units to accommodate, among others, security forces, nurses and paramedics during the Olympic Games. In its decision, the court found that CROUS’s decision “amounts to putting the interests of Olympic Games participants ahead of the situation of students, whereas CROUS’s mission is to ensure that students enjoy a good quality of life, given the uncertainties surrounding it.” The court also denounced the lack of “guarantees offered to students.” The CNOUS (Centre national des oeuvres universitaires et scolaires), which runs the CROUS network, now has 15 days in which to lodge an appeal with the Conseil d’Etat. But this scenario seems unlikely. In a press release, CNOUS explains that it has taken note of the administrative court’s decision. It reiterates that “there will never be any question of depriving a student of accommodation during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games“, but announces that it “will very shortly be proposing new consultation and contractual arrangements enabling the project to be implemented.“
