“The state of the emergency should be lifted in the fall. It has not been serving any purpose for months now and, in any case, was not created to be constant. To fight against terrorism, it would be better to reinforce the means available to our intelligence services and to establish control at national borders,” Lebreton said.
In his speech Macron also urged the French parliament to vote for the new anti-terrorism law, which will provide authorities with more powers to protect sites under the risk of possible attacks along with shutting down places of worship within six months if they are considered to promote terrorism.
The state of emergency was declared in France in November 2015 following terror attacks in Paris and Saint-Denis that left 130 people killed, and has since been extended several times. The last extension took place after the May 2017 Manchester terror attack in the United Kingdom, when Macron asked the parliament to extend the state of emergency until November 1.
