Paris: the European flag withdrawn under the Arc de Triomphe as planned, assures the executive

Europe 1 with AFP 12:00 p.m., January 02, 2022

The European flag, which flew under the Arc de Triomphe for the start of the French presidency of the EU, was withdrawn overnight from Saturday to Sunday, "in accordance with the planned timing", assured the Elysee while the far right claims a "patriotic victory". The Élysée added that the EU flag was expected to "remain in the wind on December 31 and January 1 to symbolically mark the start of the PFUE (French Presidency of the European Union), at the as well as the blue illumination of several monuments "in France.

A great patriotic victory at the dawn of 2022!

The government was forced to remove the flag of the European Union from the Arc de Triomphe.

Thank you to the massive mobilization of all lovers of France and the Republic to roll back Emmanuel Macron.

https://t.co/BNNJ0BJMhG

- Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) January 2, 2022

An installation criticized by the right and the far right

But Marine Le Pen hailed "a beautiful patriotic victory", believing that "the government was obliged to withdraw the flag of the European Union from the Arc de Triomphe".

"Thank you to the massive mobilization of all lovers of France and the Republic to roll back Emmanuel Macron," insisted the candidate of the National Rally on Twitter.

The day before, she had announced that she would file "in the coming days" an appeal before the Council of State to contest the decision to fly the flag of Europe under the Arc de Triomphe, accompanied by a request "suspension, in summary" of this "real attack on the identity of our Fatherland". The candidate of the right of the right, Eric Zemmour, but also the candidate LR Valérie Pécresse had also criticized the installation of the EU flag, less than 100 days before the presidential election.

Presiding over Europe yes, erasing French identity no!

I solemnly ask Emmanuel Macron to restore our tricolor flag next to that of Europe under the Arc de Triomphe.

We owe it to all our fighters who shed their blood for him.

pic.twitter.com/4tQAGwZKmg

- Valérie Pécresse (@vpecresse) December 31, 2021

"A symbolic and temporary initiative", indicates Beaune

Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune had judged Saturday with AFP "absurd to see the right mixing everything up and running desperately after the sterile controversies of the far right". "The device (at the Arc de Triomphe) was put in place for a few days, with the illuminations. The French flag will obviously be reinstalled. It is a symbolic and temporary initiative, which accompanies January 1 and the start of the PFUE ", he added.

Asked whether the executive had accelerated the movement in the face of criticism, a government source assured AFP on Sunday that it had "nothing to do" and that it was planned from the start that the European flag be installed only for December 31st and January 1st.

As for the return of the French flag, the executive did not have a date to provide but recalled that it did not float permanently under the Arc de Triomphe anyway.

For their part, dozens of monuments illuminated in blue, including the Eiffel Tower and the Elysée Palace, will remain so for seven days.