The French Senate has adopted a proposed law aimed at combating Islamist infiltration (208-124).
The bill, brought by former interior minister Bruno Retailleau, aims to create a criminal offense for undermining the principles of the Republic.
It penalizes coordinated actions aimed at leading a public or private body to adopt decisions or practices contrary to the law, with the established aim of seriously undermining constitutionally defined principles of the Republic.
These principles include the indivisible, secular, democratic, and social nature of the Republic; equality before the law; respect for all beliefs; and equality between women and men in access to positions of responsibility.
The bill also introduces new grounds for the dissolution of associations or informal groups that disregard common legal rules, requires prefectural approval for the construction of places of worship, extends the statute of limitations for press offenses to three years, and strengthens oversight of institutions working with minors.
French authorities have spoken of “Islamist infiltration” as a process whereby ideological networks, linked to political Islamism rather than the religion of Islam itself, seek to gradually influence public institutions, associations, and local governance from within. This could mean, for example, radicalizing members of a mosque to values that do not align with the French state.
The bill has received strong opposition from the left
The bill was actually inspired by a report Retailleau received in 2025 called “The Muslim Brotherhood and political Islamism in France” which lists 139 Muslim places of worship linked to the Muslim Brotherhood, 68 considered “close to the federation,” and 21 institutions identified as part of the Brotherhood’s network.
“As soon as a documented threat exists, we have a duty to act firmly and quickly,” Retailleau said.
He also stressed that Islamism must not be conflated with Islam, and that the bill targets the former only.
“Those who think that attacking Islamists means attacking our Muslim compatriots are falling into the trap set by Islamists themselves, who want to blur the distinction,” he added.
The bill has received strong opposition from the left, the ecologists, and the socialist parties.
Patrick Kanner, for example, from the Socialist Party, said: “Bruno Retailleau’s text on Islamist infiltration is not a protection law, it is a political pamphlet.”
“The republican right no longer defines itself by its values but by its deviations in copying the excesses of the far right.”
French politician Shannon Seban, however, called it an “essential text that finally gives the Republic the concrete tools to combat Islamist infiltration that has been gnawing at our society for far too long.”
She expressed hope that the bill will be well received in the National Assembly.
