French Senate Approves Bill to Fine Protesters for Damages

The French Senate has approved a legislative proposal that holds protest participants financially liable for damages caused during riots. The bill sets fines that can reach 10,000 euros, equivalent to approximately 11,000 dollars. The government aims to curb losses caused by looting and violent clashes that have recently impacted the country.

The measure allows the state to withhold social benefits from individuals to cover the costs of destruction. The project also covers people who participated in groups formed to commit violence or who remained in crowds after police warnings. Economy Minister Roland Lescure estimated that the damages caused by recent episodes total hundreds of millions of euros.

The proposal received 229 votes in favor and 105 against in the upper house. The text still needs to be approved by the National Assembly to come into effect. The French government is trying to balance public accounts while negotiating the 2027 fiscal budget with a spending reduction target of 54 billion euros.

Human rights groups criticized the initiative, considering it a threat to freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly. Representatives from Amnesty International in France stated that collective punishment for acts committed by third parties creates risks of arbitrariness. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez defended the measure as a way to prevent the majority of the population from bearing the costs caused by a minority.

Prolonged social instability in France raises the perception of geopolitical risk in the eurozone and may pressure the local currency against the dollar, increasing the search for reserve assets like Bitcoin.