Council of State Rejects Grenoble’s Appeal on Burkini Ban in Public Pools

The Council of State rejected on Tuesday, June 21, the appeal filed by the Grenoble municipal council, reports Midi Libre. "Contrary to the stated objective of the city of Grenoble, the adaptation of the internal regulations of its municipal swimming pools was only intended to authorize the wearing of the "burkini" in order to satisfy a religious claim and, to do so, derogated, for a category of users, from the common rule, enacted for reasons of hygiene and safety, of wearing close-fitting swimwear," states the highest administrative court.

According to the Council of State, the regulations voted by the Grenoble municipal council "affect the respect by the other users of common law rules that are too different, and therefore the proper functioning of the public service, and undermine the equal treatment of users, so that the neutrality of the public service is compromised."

For the Minister of the Interior, the decision of the high court is a "victory for the "separatism" law, for secularism and beyond, for the entire Republic". "The communitarianism of Éric Piolle, mayor of Grenoble, is definitively sanctioned by the Council of State, which confirms the suspension of the municipal council’s "Burkini" deliberation," welcomes Gérald Darmanin in a message on his Twitter account.