Marine Le Pen proposes referendum to ban and fine Islamic veil in French public spaces

The proposed public ban and referendum

On 30 August 2026, National Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy announced on BFMTV that the party plans to fine women who wear the Islamic headscarf in public if it wins the 2027 presidential election. Tanguy compared the proposed sanction to traffic fines for drivers failing to wear a seatbelt, stating that the party intends to target Islamist ideology rather than individual religious freedom. On Monday evening, 31 August 2026, party leader Marine Le Pen confirmed the plan, pledging to submit a comprehensive law against Islamist ideologies to a national referendum. Le Pen currently holds a double-digit lead in polling ahead of the first round of the spring 2027 presidential race.

I will propose to the French people by referendum a major law to fight Islamist ideologies with numerous powerful measures, including penalising the Islamist veil in public space.

Cross-party political opposition

Rivals from across the political spectrum quickly condemned the initiative. Left-wing presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon accused Le Pen on X of seeking to establish an Iranian-style clothing police, while anti-racism group SOS Racisme warned the policy would push Muslim women out of the public square. Center-right candidate Édouard Philippe argued that state authorities should focus on combating extremists rather than French Muslims. Conservative candidate Bruno Retailleau of Les Républicains, who supports narrower bans in sports competitions and school trips, dismissed the broader proposal on RTL as unworkable populism that would misallocate police resources. Renaissance candidate Gabriel Attal also voiced firm opposition while touring a school in his constituency, contrasting the measure with his own earlier proposal to restrict headscarves for individuals under 15 years old on child protection grounds.

Respect for Republican values also involves freedom of belief, freedom of worship, and therefore respect for the choice made by certain women.

Legal and constitutional hurdles

Defending the proposal on France Info on 1 September 2026, Tanguy stated that the party is not targeting a religious symbol but an ideology that has co-opted it. Critics pointed out internal party discrepancies, noting past remarks by RN president Jordan Bardella opposing the creation of clothing police. Putting the ban directly to a national vote also faces constitutional obstacles, as Article 11 of the French Constitution strictly limits the scope of issues eligible for referendums. Overcoming these restrictions would require a prior constitutional revision before any referendum could take place, setting up a potential standoff with the Constitutional Council.

Existing restrictions in French law

Headscarf debates have recurred frequently in France, where approximately 26% of Muslim women aged 18 to 49 wear a hijab, according to a 2023 report from the national statistics agency. France was among the first European countries to ban full-face veils in public spaces and prohibited religious head coverings in state schools in 2004. During the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, France was the only host country that barred its own athletes from competing in hijabs. Le Pen had previously proposed banning all ostentatious religious symbols, including the kippah, as early as 2012 before narrowing her platform to the Islamic veil.