Which French scandal is worst? The fact that the French authorities have decided to impose QR codes on all people, French as well as foreign tourists, who wish to attend Tuesday's Bastille Day parade on the Champs-Élysées? Or the fact that hardly any news outlet has seen fit to even mention the decision?
That is the question asked by the Moranidini website as well as by CNews, the right-leaning TV news program regularly described as fascist and whose license is under constant threat by the authorities.
For the first time ever, you cannot just wander over to the most famous street in Paris and simply join the crowd (the same, incidentally, is increasingly true of museums; a stroller cannot be spontaneous and just walk in; he has to sign in beforehand on the internet), something that is dubious foreign tourists have heard about. Or, for that matter (what with the medias' deafening silence), French people themselves.
… for the first time, anyone wishing to attend the July 14th military parade on the Champs-Élysées will be required to register in advance. Access for the general public—excluding official guests—will be reserved exclusively for spectators holding a personalized QR code. Registration must be completed via an online platform managed by the Office of the President of the Republic.
… Detractors denounce a departure from the popular, free, and traditionally open nature of the Bastille Day parade. The authorities respond that a gathering bringing together tens of thousands of people and several heads of state now requires exceptional precautions.
Well, there you have it: Perhaps le président de la République simply wants to be spared from being booed, as happened during last year's 14 juillet, on what will be this Tuesday Emmanuel Macron's final Bastille Day parade. (Merci à Sarah pour l'Instalien.)
Related: Comparing 1776 with 1789 — America and France: A Tale of Two Revolutions
For half a decade, libertarians have been wondering what, following in the wake of the Covid lockdown, would be the next attempt on people's liberties — predicting it would be some sort of new disease (real or imagined); who could have foreseen that it would instead center on a military parade on the Champs-Élysées in Paris?
UPDATE: On Monday, one day before the Bastille Day parade, according to France Soir, a judge shut down the QR system, telling police officers to cease and desist asking for QR codes and ID papers. But the following day, the police and gendarmes had not been informed thereof, not all of them anyway, as they were still seen to be verifying QR codes and IDs of people approaching the Champs-Élysées.
« On est en train de privatiser la Fête nationale ! On est en train d'enlever au peuple français ce qui lui appartient, c'est-à-dire la Fête nationale, par manque de courage face à l'insécurité. »
— Kévin Bossuet, CNews, 11 juillet 2026.
Thank you very much for getting this out there.
ReplyDelete“Ihren Papiere, bitte.”
ReplyDeleteEliminating illegal immigration and removing the illegal aliens could'a improved Macron's standing BUT, sensible policies to ensure national unity are a bygone thing.
ReplyDeleteCan verify and it was impossible to cross the champs if you had no code. They had no “free crossings” for this of us who simply wanted to cross the street.
ReplyDeleteNext step: having your QR code permanently tatooed on your arm.
ReplyDeleteWere the heads of state required to have a QR code as well?
ReplyDelete