France, Macron enacts the minors' law: mobile phones banned in secondary schools from the start of term

Development of this morning’s piece on the two political returns, the French and the German: this morning we reported on the Council of Ministers meeting held at the Élysée on 24 August. The first act to emerge from that return concerns schools.

Emmanuel Macron announced on 24 August that he had enacted the law on the protection of minors, which bans mobile phones in French secondary schools starting from the return to school. The news currently comes from a single source — the statements made by the government spokesperson at the close of the Council of Ministers and the president’s public message, reported by Petites Affiches; no independent confirmation available.

“Protecting children from the excesses of screens can no longer wait” (transl. from French) — Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic

The enacted text is not the one that was voted on. The politically decisive point is what is missing. The Conseil constitutionnel had struck down the main provision of the law: the ban on access to social networking platforms for minors under fifteen. This was the flagship measure, the one that had given the bill its public identity, and it originated from a proposal by the commission on screens. With that part removed, the enacted law regulates a much narrower scope — phone use within a specific type of school — and leaves untouched the relationship between minors and platforms outside school hours.

Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon indicated that the ban in secondary schools will take effect from the start of the new term, with the legal framework now settled. The distinction between the approved rule and the rule that survived constitutional review is the substance of the matter: anyone reading the announcement as the full application of the law is attributing to the text a content that the constitutional judge removed.

The second undertaking: the 2027 budget. On the other front of the return, the French government has begun preparing the budget law, stressing the urgency of reducing deficits. The Minister of Public Accounts stated that everyone will have to contribute; among the options under consideration is a reduced revaluation of pensions for retirees with higher incomes. This information, too, currently comes from a single source (franceinfo); no independent confirmation available.

“Everyone will have to make efforts” (transl. from French) — French Minister of Public Accounts

The political calendar makes the process tighter than usual: the budget debate opens eight months before the 2027 French presidential election. A measure affecting pension revaluation, even if limited to higher incomes, is thus entering a parliamentary discussion taking place in what is effectively an election campaign.

What we do not know. We do not know the text of the enacted law or the date of its publication in the French official journal, and the available material does not specify whether the ban also covers lower secondary schools (collèges) or only upper secondary schools (lycées). On pensions, there is currently no public budget document: these are working hypotheses attributed to the government, not statutory provisions. The name of the Minister of Public Accounts is not given in the material used, which identifies him only by his office.

The next check will be twofold: the Ministry of Education circular that will need to make the secondary-school ban applicable when classes resume, and the formal presentation of the 2027 budget bill.