A senatorial report from Les Républicains (LR) recommends measures against Islamism, including bans on the veil and Ramadan fasting for minors under 16. These proposals, deemed unconstitutional by jurists, aim to protect children and maintain neutrality in education. LR president Bruno Retailleau praised the work, reigniting the debate on the veil.
On November 25, 2025, Le Figaro revealed a 100-page report titled Islamism: An Obstacle to Our National Cohesion?, drafted by 29 Les Républicains (LR) senators led by Jacqueline Eustache-Brinio from Val-d’Oise. The document outlines 17 recommendations to counter « Islamist entryism », several targeting religious practices.
Key proposals include banning the veil for « girls and young women before the age of 16 » and fasting during Ramadan for those under 16, viewed as a « form of psychological educational violence ». The veil is portrayed as an « banner of sexual apartheid, instrument of social control and territorial marking ». Other measures ban the veil for school trip chaperones to « maintain a neutral educational space » and prohibit religious signs for elected officials, especially mayors and municipal councilors.
On November 26, on Franceinfo, LR president Bruno Retailleau responded: « It’s far from just a piece of fabric. Islamism and ‘Brotherhoodism’ see it as an instrument of submission, of the inferiorization of women ». He praised the senatorial work, which catches the François Bayrou government off guard, tasked by Emmanuel Macron this summer to counter the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, founded in 1928 in Egypt.
These ideas fit into a broader LR offensive, including a bill by Laurent Wauquiez to ban the veil for minors in public spaces. A bill on religious neutrality in sports, passed by the Senate on February 18, awaits the National Assembly. Jurists, however, consider several proposals contrary to the Constitution.