France Bans Politicians From Employing Their Spouses

France on Thursday banned politicians from employing their
spouses or children as parliamentary assistants under rules adopted
in response to a scandal involving former Prime Minister, Francois
Fillon and his wife.

The law, one of the first to be approved since President
Emmanuel Macron’s election in May, will apply to ministers and
members of parliament, bringing France into line with countries
like Germany.

The law will also ending what is a widespread family
business.

The essential clauses of the legislation were voted through by
members of the National Assembly in votes Wednesday night and on
Thursday.

Macron, a 39-year-old centrist, won the presidential contest
promising he would end practices blamed for widespread voter
distrust of politicians.

One of his hottest competitors in the presidential race was
Fillon, a conservative ex-prime minister whose campaign was
destroyed by a scandal involving payments to his British spouse
Penelope.

The affair was exposed by media in late January, prompting a
judicial inquiry, still underway, into allegations that Fillon paid
wife Penelope hundreds of thousands of euros over years for little,
if any, work as an assistant.

He also paid two of the couple’s children for similar work.

Although he denounced what he called a dirty tricks campaign and
denied having done anything illegal, he admitted an error of
judgment.

The scandal sank his bid for election and thrust the spotlight
on the family hires of dozens of other politicians.

Roughly one in six members of parliament has a family member
drawing a salary as an assistant.

Macron’s government, whose debut as a clean-hands operation has
been tainted by a separate inquiry that prompted a justice minister
to resign, is also planning a crackdown on how freely MPs use the
substantial budgets allotted to them.

Currently, members of the 577-member National Assembly get a
budget of 130,000 euros (152,000 dollars)a year, on top of their
own pay and secretarial funds – which the new government says is
too loosely controlled in the way it is used.

“Members of parliament are there to adopt laws and not to be
hand out subsidies,” Nicole Belloubet, who replaced predecessor
Francois Bayrou in June as justice minister, told Europe 1
radio.

The bill on family hires was criticised by some politicians,
during a pre-vote debate where one of them, Julien Aubert of the
opposition The Republicans party, said it was excessive.

“It’s like a pig flu: one pig is ill and the whole herd gets put
down,” he said.

France on Thursday banned politicians from employing their
spouses or children as parliamentary assistants under rules adopted
in response to a scandal involving former Prime Minister, Francois
Fillon and his wife.

The law, one of the first to be approved since President
Emmanuel Macron’s election in May, will apply to ministers and
members of parliament, bringing France into line with countries
like Germany.

The law will also ending what is a widespread family
business.

The essential clauses of the legislation were voted through by
members of the National Assembly in votes Wednesday night and on
Thursday.

Macron, a 39-year-old centrist, won the presidential contest
promising he would end practices blamed for widespread voter
distrust of politicians.

One of his hottest competitors in the presidential race was
Fillon, a conservative ex-prime minister whose campaign was
destroyed by a scandal involving payments to his British spouse
Penelope.

The affair was exposed by media in late January, prompting a
judicial inquiry, still underway, into allegations that Fillon paid
wife Penelope hundreds of thousands of euros over years for little,
if any, work as an assistant.

He also paid two of the couple’s children for similar work.

Although he denounced what he called a dirty tricks campaign and
denied having done anything illegal, he admitted an error of
judgment.

The scandal sank his bid for election and thrust the spotlight
on the family hires of dozens of other politicians.

Roughly one in six members of parliament has a family member
drawing a salary as an assistant.

Macron’s government, whose debut as a clean-hands operation has
been tainted by a separate inquiry that prompted a justice minister
to resign, is also planning a crackdown on how freely MPs use the
substantial budgets allotted to them.

Currently, members of the 577-member National Assembly get a
budget of 130,000 euros (152,000 dollars)a year, on top of their
own pay and secretarial funds – which the new government says is
too loosely controlled in the way it is used.

“Members of parliament are there to adopt laws and not to be
hand out subsidies,” Nicole Belloubet, who replaced predecessor
Francois Bayrou in June as justice minister, told Europe 1
radio.

The bill on family hires was criticised by some politicians,
during a pre-vote debate where one of them, Julien Aubert of the
opposition The Republicans party, said it was excessive.

“It’s like a pig flu: one pig is ill and the whole herd gets put
down,” he said.