Mayotte, Notre-Dame, social plans, floods, pope, abortion, New Caledonia… a year of extraordinary news.
Return – non-exhaustive – on the 2024 events in France.
Anger of the peasant world
On January 29, hundreds of farmers converged on Paris to block access. At the forefront of peasant unease are low prices and heavy standards. Appointed to replace Élisabeth Borne, Gabriel Attal is making more announcements. But the movement is spreading. The European Commission ends up proposing to lighten the environmental rules of the CAP.
In the fall, anger resurfaced: this time the protests focused on the Mercosur free trade agreement. Validated by Brussels, it must be ratified by EU countries.
Cinema shaken by Metoo
After accusing filmmakers Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon of sexual violence, actress Judith Godrèche spoke before the Senate on February 29. Two commissions are created in the Assembly. Accused of assault,
Gérard Depardieu was placed in police custody in April. His trial is scheduled for March 2025.
Five years in prison, including two years, are required against director Christophe Ruggi in the Adèle Haenel affair. The decision will be made on February 3.
Abortion in the Constitution
On March 4, France became the first country to explicitly include abortion in its Constitution.
Overseas riots
The night of May 13 to 14 marks the start of several months of violence in New Caledonia against an electoral reform project, which will leave 14 dead and at least €2 billion in damage. The project was abandoned on October 1.
In Martinique, a mobilization against the high cost of living also led to violence from September.
The Landing celebrated
France is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Landings, culminating in ceremonies bringing together Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky on June 6 on Omaha Beach.
Dissolution surprise
On the evening of June 9, while the RN came out well ahead of the European elections, Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the Assembly. After an express campaign marked by the regrouping of the left under the New Popular Front (NFP) banner and a crisis at LR, the far right remains at the gates of power.
The political landscape appears more fragmented than ever with three blocs and no majority. We have to wait almost two months for Emmanuel Macron to appoint Michel Barnier as Prime Minister. The fruit of a fragile team between Macronists and LR, his government did not resist, on December 4, a motion of censure tabled by the left and supported by the RN.
Just three months after his appointment, Michel Barnier leaves Matignon. On December 13, the President appointed François Bayrou, the fourth Prime Minister in 2024, while a special law was adopted pending the 2025 budget.
Abbé Pierre, the fallen icon
Defender of the homeless, Abbé Pierre is accused by several women of sexual assault, according to a report released on July 17. His Foundation decides to change its name.
Olympic Games, the enchanted parenthesis
On July 26, a crazy parade on the Seine gave the start to two radiant weeks of Olympic competitions in Paris. Sites with postcard settings and a seamless organization act as an enchanted interlude for the French. The magic will continue with the Paralympic Games.
The Mazan shock
On September 2, the trial of the Mazan rapes opened in Avignon: Dominique Pelicot and 50 men accused of having raped, over ten years, his wife whom he drugged. Gisèle Pelicot became a feminist heroine, celebrated abroad. Dominique Pelicot was sentenced on December 19 to twenty years of criminal imprisonment and all his co-defendants were declared guilty.
Around fifteen of them appealed the verdict, we learned this Friday evening.
The Paty trial
Four years after the assassination of Samuel Paty, the eight accused were sentenced with up to sixteen years in prison. A Nîmes woman receives a three-year suspended sentence. Several co-defendants want to appeal.
Starting the EPR
Twelve years late and a bill four times higher than expected, the Flamanville EPR (Manche), a new generation power plant, was connected to the electricity network on December 21.
Serial floods
The year 2024 is marked by a string of floods and floods, accentuated by global warming. In January and February, torrential rains cause the waterways of Pas-de-Calais and the Nord to overflow.
In April and May, it's the turn of the Yonne basin then rivers in Moselle, Bas-Rhin, Mayenne, Maine-et-Loire. In September, Lourdes and the Aspe valley were hit by floods.
In October, the Kirk depression then a Cévennes episode caused numerous floods. The Ardèche department is particularly affected.
Burst social plans
Casino is shedding almost all of its large format stores and announcing 3,200 job cuts in April. On November 5, Auchan announced a social plan that threatened 2,400 jobs while Michelin formalized the closure of the factories in Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) and Vannes (Morbihan).
The CGT counts more than 300 social plans and 300,000 jobs threatened or already eliminated.
Reopening of Notre-Dame
Five years and eight months after a devastating fire, Notre-Dame Cathedral reopened its doors on December 7, during a ceremony in the presence of American President-elect Donald Trump. The pope preferred to go a week later to Corsica to the lands of Cardinal Bustillo.
C8 banned from TNT
The slippages of Cyril Hanouna on one side, a fragile financial model on the other: on December 11, Arcom recorded the exclusion of TNT from C8 and NRJ12, replaced in 2025 by CMI TV and OFTV and numbers of redistributed channels.
Devastated Mayotte
A powerful cyclone, with gusts of more than 220 km/h, devastated Mayotte, the poorest of the French departments, on December 14. Emmanuel Macron promises to “rebuild” the archipelago. 39 deaths have been recorded, but the authorities fear a much higher toll.
