France, Aug. 31 -- The day begins at the Elysee Palace with a Cabinet meeting devoted entirely to the start of the new school year, before ministers move to a wing of the Hotel des Invalides for a closed-door session expected to run into the afternoon.

The venue, home to the General Secretariat for Defence and National Security (SGDSN), was chosen in part to allow ministers to review the wave of cyberattacks that hit French public institutions over the summer, including breaches affecting the tax authorities and the Education Ministry.

Those incidents prompted Lecornu to call for a "stronger response" from the administration.

Mobile phones will not be allowed inside the meeting, which will then turn to the government's main concern - t...