Dead time in the race for accommodation for the period of the Paris 2024 Olympics. The Paris administrative court suspended in summary proceedings the decision of the Crous to limit the leases for the occupation of student accommodation to June 30. A decision that had been taken to allow the requisition of these accommodations to accommodate the staff of the event.
The Solidaires union had initiated legal proceedings against the requisition of 3,000 Crous accommodation, an organization which notably manages student accommodation, to accommodate the staff (security forces, caregivers, first aiders, security guards) of the event during the summer of 2024 .
“The execution of the decision of the Crous de Paris to generally limit the right to occupy accommodation in university residences (…) for the year 2023-2024 to June 30, 2024 is suspended”, can we read in this decision made on Thursday.
Absence of “guarantees offered to students”
According to the court, the Crous’ decision “comes down to putting the interests of the participants in the Olympic Games above the situation of the students, while the Crous’ mission is to ensure a quality of life for students, given the uncertainties that surround it. “. He denounces the absence of “guarantees offered to students” and criticizes the Crous for having taken a decision which “reduces the number of accommodation mobilized for priority people”.
“This decision is very satisfactory because it meant that students who, for example, have to take remedial exams during the summer were no longer going to have accommodation or that we were going to relocate them very far away in Ile-de-France”, explains Marion Ogier, lawyer for the Solidaires union.
“There will never be any question of depriving a student of accommodation”
In May, students had posted on X (formerly Twitter) a screenshot of an email sent by the Crous warning that the student residence should be “empty of all inhabitants from July 1, 2024”. In a press release, the Cnous (National Center for University and School Works, which leads the Crous network) said that it took note of this decision, but recalled that “contrary to what certain comments suggest, there will never be any question of depriving a housing student during the 2024 Paris Olympics”.
The Minister of Higher Education, Sylvie Retailleau, also reacted to X by assuring that “it was never envisaged to deprive a student of accommodation during the Olympic and Paralympic Games of @Paris2024”.
“In Ile-de-France alone, 6,000 homes are unoccupied every summer. (…) It is therefore logical that part of these unoccupied accommodation in IdF should be made available to the organization of the Games”, writes Sylvie Retailleau. For students wishing to be housed during the period of the Olympic Games, the minister undertakes to “local rehousing”, and “payment of the costs for this trip”. “No one will be left without a solution,” she asserted.