A planned government reception to mark the expected adoption of France’s assisted dying law has triggered political outrage after it emerged that taxpayers would cover travel and accommodation costs for invited guests.
According to emails, the office of minister for relations with parliament Laurent Panifous had invited participants in France’s Citizens’ Convention on end-of-life care, a government-selected panel of ordinary citizens tasked with advising policymakers on euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation, to a reception at his ministry at the hôtel de Clermont, close to the prime minister’s residence in Paris, on the evening of July 15. Rapporteurs of the two related bills were also invited, the ministry told Le Figaro.
The controversy intensified when the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), which organised the citizens’ convention, informed former participants that it would also pay for their transport and, where necessary, overnight accommodation in Paris so they could attend what it described as a “celebration cocktail”.
The CESE is a taxpayer-funded constitutional advisory assembly, described as France’s third chamber alongside the National Assembly and the Senate. In 2025 it received an annual state subsidy of €34.4 million, a reduction of 23 per cent on the previous year. In July 2025 the Cour des comptes, the national audit body, said the council could not be shielded from the spending restraint demanded of other public bodies and criticised the absence of clear rules governing members’ travel expenses.
The invitations have prompted accusations from the Right that public money is being used to celebrate one of the most ethically divisive pieces of legislation in recent French history.
The strongest criticism came from Bruno Retailleau, leader of Les Républicains (LR), who said he was “deeply shocked” that a cocktail was being organised inside a ministry to celebrate the vote.
“Where is the dignity in celebrating with champagne a law dealing with the suffering and death of the most vulnerable?” he wrote on social media.
LR MP and emergency physician Philippe Juvin also condemned the event, saying: “You do not ‘celebrate’ legislation dealing with death. The gravity of the subject and the concerns it raises require restraint.”
He called on the minister and the CESE to cancel the reception.
Hanane Mansouri, an MP for the Union of the Rights for the Republic (UDR) and a vocal opponent of the bill, questioned how many palliative care beds could have been funded instead, asking whether the CESE would publish the bill for the event.
David Lisnard, the LR mayor of Cannes, said the reception was being held “against all decency”.
In an attempt to defuse the controversy French officials insisted there would be “no food, no alcohol” and described the gathering as “simply a moment of discussion after the vote” with members of the citizens’ convention, whom the minister, who also holds the citizen participation brief, wished to associate with the conclusion of the legislative process.
The ministry also suggested that the CESE’s wording referring to a “celebration cocktail” was “unfortunate” and had created unnecessary confusion.
Under the legislation, applicants must be adults who are French citizens or legal residents and suffer from a serious, incurable illness that places them in an advanced or terminal stage with an irreversible deterioration in health. They must also experience suffering linked to that condition and be capable of expressing their wishes freely. Psychological suffering alone does not qualify, and healthcare staff may invoke a conscience clause.
Patients must personally request the procedure from an independent physician, who must verify that all legal criteria are met after a formal consultation process and reflection period.
The Assembly approved the text at third reading on June 30 by 295 votes to 232. The Senate has rejected it three times, most recently without debate, and the Government has invoked its constitutional power to give the lower house the final say on July 15.
Senate President Gérard Larcher has pledged to refer the law to France’s Constitutional Council should that happen.
