The case is closed. It did not drag. The French National Assembly (pictured above) finished, late in the evening of Thursday 23 March, the examination of the Olympic bill. Its formal vote is scheduled for Tuesday, March 28. It looks like it will be a smooth process. Like the Senate, where the text has already been adopted on first reading, the National Assembly has not rejected any of the major measures of the bill, despite the numerous amendments tabled by the opposition. The deputies gave their green light to the so-called “intelligent” video surveillance, to administrative investigations on accredited persons, or to genetic doping tests. Thursday evening, they put the final touch to the project by considering the issue of opening shops on Sundays in the municipalities directly affected by the Paris 2024 Games. Initially planned for a period of four months, this authorization was reduced by one month. It will begin on June 15, 2024, more than a month before the opening of the Olympic Games (July 26 to August 11), to end on September 15, after the end of the Paralympic Games (August 28 to September 8). Earlier in the day, Thursday, March 23, the deputies approved the use of video surveillance, based on algorithms. It will apply to “sporting, recreational or cultural events” of scale, and could therefore also be used during the Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. The list of events concerned by this experiment will be determined by decree. The National Assembly has also adopted the extension of the scope of “screening“, an administrative investigation procedure existing for major events. They will concern the “participants” accredited to the Paris 2024 Games, including athletes and their teams, media representatives and partners. Finally, the deputies retained the proposal of a hardening of the penalty of stadium ban. It will become mandatory in case of serious breach of security of sporting events.
