“Empty stadiums are heartbreaking”, defends the deputy Sacha Houlié who calls for proportional gauges

A first victory, but which says nothing about the outcome of the case. On Wednesday evening, the law committee of the National Assembly adopted – against the opinion of the rapporteur – the amendment tabled by the LREM deputy Sacha Houlié and several colleagues to change the reception gauges in stadiums and concert halls .

These elected officials believe that the number of authorized spectators should be proportional to the capacity of the enclosure, and not answer to an absolute value (5,000 people outdoors, 2,000 indoors), as the government announced on Monday. The member for Vienna is hopeful that his amendment will be definitively incorporated into the bill, which will be examined on Monday January 3 in the Senate.

Amendment voted!

It was a matter of common sense. The gauges in the stadiums and theaters will be established on the basis of the prorata of the reception capacity and not in absolute value. pic.twitter.com/GBVTbh7pkl

– Sacha Houlié (@SachaHoulie) December 29, 2021

What steps remain to be taken after the adoption of your amendment on Wednesday evening?

The amendment is incorporated into the bill. The question now is what will the government do? Is he going to want to come back to it or not? That’s the whole point. If the bill arrives in the Senate as it is on Monday, January 3, I think it will have a good chance of being adopted. I have a lot of positive echoes from colleagues, whatever their political orientation, moreover. I also know, having worked with them a lot in recent months, that the leaders, especially in football, are largely in favor.

What do you think the government’s position will be?

To be honest, I don’t know. Interministerial meetings must take place. The government wanted to set up the same thing for everyone, namely 5,000 people outdoors and 2,000 indoors, to show real unity. We understand this position, but we would prefer more accuracy, even if it can be a little longer and complicated to set up. It seems that the reception is favorable among those involved in sport and among the general public, which is why there is a serious chance, I think, that the amendment will be retained.

Did it surprise you that the government is going back to these absolute gauges, like in 2020?

I won’t say surprised, because there is some kind of consistency. The Prime Minister and the Ministry of Health want this to be understandable by everyone, and fear mixing in transport to access the stadium. I can understand them. There is a certain consistency with them, but there is with us because we had already defended these proportional gauges at the time.

Is the main argument for these proportional gauges financial?

This is important, of course, but it is not the only aspect. There is a real desire to involve the public, not to make people who like to come to stadiums or concert halls lose the habit of traveling. We have all experienced empty stadiums, or almost empty when there are 5,000 of us in a large enclosure, it’s heartbreaking.

Do you consider the possibility of a total closed session if the virus were to spread even faster in the coming weeks?

The benchmark remains the situation in hospitals. If the incidence is extremely high and hospitals are overwhelmed, more drastic measures will be considered, to be sure. But as it stands, we are in favor of the vaccination pass to leave open a maximum of services and establishments open to the public.