Question 15223 — secularism

Summary

Ms. Lisette Pollet draws the attention of the Minister of Agriculture, Agri-Food and Food Sovereignty to interministerial circular NOR INTD2609575C of April 23, 2026 relating to “sanitary and animal protection measures relating to the Muslim festival of Eid el-Kébir”. This circular provides in particular that the festival "commemorates, in Islamic tradition, the episode of Abraham's sacrifice" and affirms that "it is religiously recommended, for families who have the means, to sacrifice an animal.” Such a formulation raises questions regarding the constitutional principle of secularism and state neutrality resulting from the law of December 9, 1905 concerning the separation of Churches and State. Indeed, it is not up to the administration to comment on the content of a religious rite, to present its spiritual significance or to qualify the “recommended” character in an administrative document. The mission of the State consists of guaranteeing the free exercise of religion while respecting public order, as well as ensuring the application of health, environmental and animal protection rules. In this regard, the circular itself highlights the risks linked to foot-and-mouth disease, peste des petits ruminants, as well as illegal slaughtering. And she must stay in this neutrality. In this context, this position also appears contradictory with the objectives stated by the Government. She therefore asks him if the Government intends to modify the wording of this circular in order to strictly refocus its content on only the administrative, health and regulatory provisions falling within the competence of the State, in compliance with the principle of republican neutrality.

Machine translation from French. The official text remains authoritative.

Timeline

No timeline events have been ingested for this record yet.

Votes

No vote records are attached yet.

Versions

No version snapshots stored. Document URLs remain at the source.

Documents

No documents linked.

Sponsors

No sponsors or actors listed by the source.

Related records

No cross-record relationships stored yet.