At the 2023 Fête de l’Humanité, Marine Tondelier speaks before the audience. The national secretary of the Greens is wearing her party’s colors here. Credit: Selbymay / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
Marine Tondelier held a press conference in Paris on Monday, July 27. She asked Matignon or the Élysée to urgently bring together the political parties and parliamentary groups. This request comes in response to the wildfires affecting France and is accompanied by an accusation of state “unpreparedness.” The Greens’ offensive puts back at the center of the debate the delay in reforming civil security in France. It also reignites the discussion over its resources.
A Political Meeting Urgently Requested
The national secretary of the Greens wants the executive branch to present an update on the situation to political leaders. She is calling for this meeting to result in concrete commitments. The party confirms that the July 27 press conference took place. Its official page dedicated to the fires mentions several members of parliament and elected officials from Gironde, Landes, and Bas-Rhin.
Marine Tondelier attributes a “heavy responsibility” to the state for the country’s “unpreparedness.” This accusation is part of the political debate. No causal link has been established between national budget choices and the scale of the current fires. On the morning of Tuesday, July 28, no formal response from Matignon or the Élysée to the request for a meeting had been made public.
At the same time, the Greens are calling for the swift review of a civil security bill as soon as the parliamentary session resumes. They present this request as a structural response to firefighters’ needs, separate from the immediate handling of fire operations.
The Beauvau Still Without Legislative Follow-Up
The civil security Beauvau was launched on April 28, 2024. This broad consultation focused on the organization, missions, and funding of emergency services. After an interruption tied to the dissolution of the National Assembly, its conclusions were presented on September 4, 2025. They were meant to feed into a government bill.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez was questioned in the National Assembly on May 27, 2026. He said a modernization bill was being prepared. Its placement on the agenda, however, depended on parliamentary calendar constraints. He also mentioned the 2027 budget bill for certain measures. On July 7, the text was still being drafted, with no deposit date announced.
The bill introduced by Sandra Regol in July is a separate parliamentary initiative. It should not be confused with the government’s future bill or presented as a law already adopted.
Funding Is Up, But The Scopes Differ
Emmanuel Macron defended the executive’s actions. According to him, the civil security budget rose from 450 million euros in 2017 to more than 800 million in 2026. A Senate report on the 2026 budget bill provides an official benchmark. Program 161 funds national civil security resources. It provides for 882.7 million euros in payment appropriations, up 6.2% year over year. Commitment authorizations reach 994.9 million euros.
These amounts confirm an increase in national funding. They are not enough to validate the president’s comparison across the entire period without checking that the budget scope is identical. They also do not summarize funding for departmental fire and rescue services, which is largely provided by local governments.
The same caution applies to air assets. The Senate report counted nine operational Canadairs out of twelve as of July 1, 2025; it does not provide information on their availability on July 27, 2026. The Greens’ claim that only five aircraft could be mobilized therefore cannot be treated as an established administrative fact.
Proposals That Go Beyond Fighting Fires
Longer term, the Greens defend a “climate state of emergency” and a “climate welfare state.” Their plan includes a climate leave and an adjustment of labor law during heat waves. It also provides support for farmers hit by disasters and a reform of the natural disaster system.
These measures are part of a broader political program than civil security. Their full cost cannot be verified from the documents currently available. For now, the strongest institutional point remains the delay in turning the Beauvau into legislation. The debate over “unpreparedness” requires dated operational data and a budget review using a constant scope.