France prohibits hiring of relatives of politicians

The French parliament approved a law on "moralizing public life" which, among other rules, prohibits Members from hiring first-degree relatives to perform public duties.

With the last vote today, which had 383 votes in favor, three opposites and 48 abstentions, the bill goes to the sanction of President Emmanuel Macron, who is one of the defenders of the new legislation.

Among other points of the law, there is a more rigid regime for the spending of parliamentarians and the cancellation of the so-called "parliamentary reserve", a set of state resources with which deputies and senators can freely finance groups or associations in their constituencies.

The measure comes after several scandals involving prominent politicians in the country. The most controversial of them involved former French presidential candidate François Fillon, who is facing prosecution in the country for having given "fictional charges" to his wife, Penelope, and two of his sons.