This is called compensation, but is it enough? This Thursday, Sylvie Retailleau, the Minister of Higher Education announced that students who will have their Crous accommodation requisitioned during the Paris Olympic Games will receive compensation of “100 euros” and “two places” offered to attend “ Olympic events.
On the occasion of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, more than 2,000 students will have to be rehoused because their accommodation Crous, an organization which manages student residences, will be requisitioned to house firefighters, caregivers, law enforcement and civil security. . A decision that sparks controversy.
One hundred euros and two places
The Paris administrative court suspended in summary proceedings the decision of the Crous to limit the occupancy leases of student accommodation in view of the Olympic Games to June 30. After an appeal from the Crous, a hearing before the Council of State must take place “at the end of November-beginning of December”, assured a judicial source.
“The idea is to relocate these students during the two summer months, July and August, without any additional cost. This move will be made, if they wish, as close as possible to their place of study. A fixed financial support of 100 euros will be offered to those who have to move and two places for Olympic events will be offered to them,” announced the Minister of Higher Education in an interview with Parisian.
“Every year, in Île-de-France, 30% of Crous housing, or 6,000 apartments, find themselves unoccupied during the summer because students stop their lease for various reasons,” recalls Sylvie Retailleau.
1,667 accommodations in the Olympic Village converted into student accommodation
According to her, it was “common sense that empty housing during the summer helps meet the housing needs encountered by public officials during the Olympic and Paralympic Games”. “Of these approximately 6,000 empty student accommodations, the idea will be to use 3,200,” said the minister, who specifies that “2,200 students will need to be rehoused”.
Furthermore, it ensures that “1,667 housing units in the Olympic village and the media village”, including “1,300 in Seine-Saint-Denis”, will be converted into student housing after the Paris Olympic Games, starting from the “first semester of the 2024-2025 academic year.
Also questioned about the financial difficulties of certain universities in France, Sylvie Retailleau announced “an envelope of 100 million euros distributed in November to universities facing high energy costs”.
The minister’s announcement of compensation sparked sarcasm: “100 bullets and a march, #Paris2024 version” tweeted Paris MP Julien Bayou.