Where is the “popular commission of inquiry” into the Olympic and Paralympic Games launched by LFI? – Liberation

On July 25, the day before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the parliamentary group of La France insoumise issued a press release to announce the establishment of a “popular commission of inquiry into the social, economic and ecological implications of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games”.

Denouncing the consecration of «sport business» what would the IOC do and the exacerbation of “excesses of Emmanuel Macron’s policy”the rebellious group promises that its commission “will deliver its conclusions at the start of the parliamentary term, at the end of a process of hearings, meetings and field visits which will last all summer, until the end of the Paralympic Games on September 8.”

While the Games were widely perceived as a success and a moment of enthusiasm, given the smooth running of the events and the sporting success of French athletes, some commentators were ironic about the progress of this rebellious commission. Among them, Emmanuel Macron’s former minister, Clément Beaune launched this dig at X on August 4 in the middle of the Olympics: “With all this, we no longer have any news from the LFI Paris 2024 Olympics “popular” commission of inquiry! We are impatiently awaiting the hearings of Teddy Riner and Léon Marchand, to better understand this failure.

Now that the deadline for the Paralympic Games, set by LFI in its press release, has ended, other commentators, such as former journalist Hubert Huertas, who often expresses his hostility towards LFI on the social network teased the rebellious MP Clémence Guetté (who first shared the July 25 press release) by asking her “where is the LFI commission of inquiry into the Olympic Games? Were the hearings numerous and productive?

Auditions began on August 27

Contacted by CheckNews, LFI MP Aurélie Trouvé, who coordinates the popular commission of inquiry, indicates that the first hearings began on August 27 and that they must still take place throughout the month of September. A “fifty speakers” should be heard by rebellious elected officials. The report of the popular commission of inquiry should be submitted at the beginning of October, while the start of the parliamentary term is scheduled for October 1. The member for Seine-Saint-Denis argues that the launch of this special commission and its hearings was delayed by the dissolution of the National Assembly decided by Emmanuel Macron on June 9.

Regarding its operation, Aurélie Trouvé indicates that the eight major themes are distributed among nine rebellious deputies. So she recovered the subject of “budgetary and economic analysis”. His colleague Gabrielle Cathala, parliamentarian from Val-d’Oise, is responsible for the file on the impact of games in terms of public freedoms. The shutter “exclusion, impoverishment, gentrification, consequences on the lives of residents” goes to Maxime Laisney, deputy for Seine-et-Marne. The ecological impacts are entrusted to the MP for Essonne, Claire Lejeune. Elected in Haute-Garonne, François Piquemal, manages the“heritage of popular sport”. The consequences on employment and labor rights for Bérenger Cernon, elected official from Essonne. The impact on access to culture and the cultural world goes to Sarah Legrain, MP for Paris. And finally, Léo Walter, former deputy for Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and Jean-François Coulomme, deputy for Savoie, are responsible for coordinating the file of “lessons and questions for the Olympic Games in France in 2030”since in six years the Winter Olympics will take place in the French Alps.

Around twenty hearings planned

To date, Aurélie Trouvé indicates that six hearings have already taken place on the themes of public freedoms and work. Association representatives (La Quadrature du Net, Amnesty International, International Prison Observatory, Utopia 56), union representatives (Judicial Union, French Lawyers Union, CGT du spectacle, CGT Seine-Saint-Denis, CNT Security/services d order) and lawyers (Vincent Brengarth, Samy Djemaoun, Alexis Baudelin, Mohamed Jaite) and the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights were notably received at the National Assembly. These guests are largely oriented to the left, due to their defense of public freedoms and precarious populations.

Ten hearings are already scheduled on the subjects of ecological, economic impacts and the legacy of the Olympic Games, as well as the 2030 Winter Games. According to the agenda sent to CheckNews by Aurélie Trouvé, they should receive athletes Djilali Bedrani (athletics ) and Anissa Benyoub (boxing), a journalist, a researcher specializing in ecological transition, economists, including “two economists from CDES, responsible for the economic impact study of JOP 2024 carried out for COJOP”as well as union officials. Aurélie Trouvé also ensures that “several appointments are still to be made” by the end of September, “for example on hidden costs and financial transparency, and on the impacts for Parisian artisans and traders” or even on the theme of culture.

If at this stage, the hearings are only just beginning, and should last until the end of September, the rebels have started to share some of them on social networks. Thus on August 27, the day of the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, Gabrielle Cathala, elected official from Val-d’Oise, shared the agenda of the auditions she conducted and which she then posted online in full on his YouTube channel. These recordings make it possible to discover the concerns of stakeholders regarding the use of facial recognition and biometric data during the Olympics, or the increase in repressive measures, such as house arrests or the increased use of immediate appearance.

An official parliamentary commission to come

Questioned Monday September 9 on France Info, the rebellious deputy Eric Coquerel briefly mentioned the “unofficial” commission launched by LFI at the end of July, and announced “that with the cultural affairs committee which has leadership over the Olympics, we will launch either an information mission or a commission of inquiry in the coming months – we must let things settle down a little – on at least questions of the economic impact of the Olympic Games”.

Asked about this distinction, Aurélie Trouvé confirms that the rebellious group will request a parliamentary commission of inquiry “official”. This “real commission of inquiry” which should be transpartisan could have many more prerogatives: “At present, I cannot seize the appropriate budgetary documents, nor the partnerships from the tender documents, I do not have the possibility of forcing this or that multinational to respond to us” , indicates the MP for Seine-Saint-Denis, who justifies the establishment of the popular commission of inquiry so that the issues linked to the Olympic Games do not fall into public disinterest.