Najat Vallaud-Belkacem

Thirteen RN MPs asked the Council of State to annul Najat Vallaud-Belkacem's appointment to the Court of Auditors, invoking in particular the institution's independence and credibility. The Council of State dismissed their application in June 2026.

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Directly implicated

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem's appointment as a senior auditor at the Court of Auditors in July 2025 triggered controversy. RN elected representatives repeated allegations of political bargaining according to which her appointment had been linked to the attitude of the Socialist group led by her husband Boris Vallaud towards the government.

Najat Vallaud-Belkacem supported abolitionist legislation including criminalisation of people purchasing sexual services. The measure divided associations, healthcare professionals and feminist movements, with some fearing that it would increase precariousness and risks for people in prostitution.

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Political responsibility

The lower secondary school reform promoted by Najat Vallaud-Belkacem met strong opposition from teachers, unions, intellectuals and politicians, particularly concerning bilingual classes, European sections, Latin, Greek and interdisciplinary teaching. A national strike accompanied the protests.

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Political responsibility

In 2016, the more visible adoption in textbooks of spelling changes recommended since 1990 was widely presented as a new 'Vallaud-Belkacem reform', triggering controversy particularly over the circumflex accent.

The transformation of heritage language and culture teaching (ELCO) into modern language teaching supervised by the national education system, particularly for Arabic, triggered controversy. Right-wing politicians accused the minister of introducing 'community languages' into schools.

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Political responsibility

Thomas Piketty sharply criticised the government for what he considered an insufficient response to social segregation in lower secondary schools. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem rejected the idea of an imposed nationwide solution and defended locally developed experiments.

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Political responsibility

In April 2016, Manuel Valls expressed support for banning the Islamic veil at universities. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem publicly opposed the proposal, considering that a blanket ban was neither necessary nor justified by the situation in higher education institutions.

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Personally implicated

During the nationwide burkini controversy in summer 2016, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem criticised the proliferation of municipal bans, arguing that they encouraged racist speech and represented a dangerous development. Manuel Valls publicly distanced himself from her position.

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Personally implicated

Proposed new history curricula triggered nationwide controversy over the relative place of Islam, Christianity, French history and foreign civilisations. Critics claimed that some aspects of national or Christian history would become optional while the study of Islam would be compulsory.

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Political responsibility

After a lower secondary school pupil wearing a long skirt was prevented from entering class, a nationwide controversy erupted over whether the clothing constituted a religious symbol. Najat Vallaud-Belkacem defended the teaching team's judgment while stating that no pupil could be excluded solely because of the length or colour of a skirt.

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Political responsibility

As Minister for Women's Rights, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem strongly supported the 'ABCD de l'égalité', a school pilot scheme intended to combat sexist stereotypes. The scheme became the target of a campaign accusing it of introducing an alleged 'gender theory' into schools and prompted days when parents withdrew pupils.

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Political responsibility

Following months of controversy, the government did not roll out the original experimental ABCD de l'égalité scheme nationwide and replaced it with a broader programme. Anti-gender movements perceived the retreat as a victory, while some advocates of equality described it as capitulation.

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Her appointment as the first female Education Minister in August 2014 triggered an immediate offensive by networks opposed to equality policies, which made Najat Vallaud-Belkacem a central target because of her earlier role in the ABCD de l'égalité scheme.

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Directly implicated

When Jean-François Copé triggered controversy by denouncing 'anti-White racism', his supporters recalled that Najat Vallaud-Belkacem had herself used the expression in a book published a few months earlier. The government spokesperson was asked to explain the difference in context that she emphasised.

State of the evidence

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Personally implicated