The decree signed by Mr Attal is one of his last acts as prime minister before handing over power to Michel Barnier at the end of the day on Thursday.
Justice on Wednesday asked the head of government to review Anticor's request “within twenty-four hours”, under the penalty of paying “1,000 euros per day of delay at the end of this period”.
The administrative court in Paris had already, by the decision of August 9, “ordered the prime minister to re-examine the application for approval” of the anti-corruption association “within fifteen days”, which he had not done. The association therefore asked the court to “go to the next level” by imposing a financial penalty on the government.
“Fierce Fight”
According to the decree signed on Thursday by Gabriel Attal, and made public by Anticor, the latter “meets the conditions […] the approval of anti-corruption associations in order to exercise the rights recognized by the civil side”. The association is therefore approved “for a period of three years”, the decree states.
“This decision rewards the fierce fight we have been fighting for so many months before the administrative courts. This is a major victory for civil society. The fight defeated the political deadlock”, said Anticor's lawyer, Me Vincent Brengarth.
Anticor, founded in 2002 “to fight corruption and restore ethics in politics”, it lost its approval in June 2023 after an administrative appeals court decision, later upheld on appeal.
Since 2015, this provision has allowed it to intervene in judicial proceedings, including in sensitive cases, in particular becoming a civil party in case of inaction of the prosecution.
Matignon then explained that he was waiting for the decision of the Council of State before making a decision.
Anticor is involved in more than 160 procedures, including the awarding of the World Cup to Qatar, the investigation into the illegal acquisition of interests targeting the Secretary General of the Elysée Alexis Kohler, close to Emmanuel Macron, or the sale of the energy subsidiary. from Alstom to General Electric.
Macron's accusation
Emmanuel Macron criticized the association in 2023 on France 2 in an issue of the program Complément d'investigation dedicated to Mr. Kohler.
“I can destroy anyone with the question of setting an example. Because tomorrow I can do a procedure for you. Anticor, that's all they do,” said the head of state. “And the procedures, they make them last, they make them last, they make them last. And even if people, in the end, are not convicted, you screw them up.”
Anticor, which claims 7,000 members, submitted a new application in June 2023, to which the government did not respond, meaning a default decision of refusal.
The association had challenged the cancellation of its approval before the Council of State and the lack of response from the government before the administrative court. These two proceedings are still ongoing.
Then, in January, he submitted a new request for approval, to which the executive did not respond within the deadline, which again amounted to an implicit refusal. Anticor therefore appealed again to the administrative court at the beginning of August to obtain the annulment of this implicit refusal.