Violence has again erupted in the grim northern banlieues of Paris where most of the capital’s families of North African origin are housed. There are some similarities with the riots of 2005. In both cases, the spark was the accidental death of two youths. In 2005 young men fleeing the police in Clichy-sous-Bois were electrocuted when they hid in a substation; this time teenagers without helmets on an unlicensed motor-bike collided with a police car in the satellite town of Villier-le-Bel. In neither case do the police appear to have been to blame for the deaths, and, although the full facts remain to be investigated and must be made public swiftly, initial evidence does not appear to bear out furious accusations that the patrol car deserted the scene of Sunday’s accident. Whatever the truth, hatred of the police runs so deep among the youth slouching through the down-at-heel housing estates that rumour is all it takes to produce a conflagration. As in 2005 there are signs that violence will rapidly spread to neighbouring areas.

Two things are, however, different and extremely disturbing. The first is the systematic use of firearms against the police, nearly 80 of whom were injured, some gravely, in the second night of riots, and indications that organised criminals are using some teenage rioters as decoys.

The second is that whereas in 2005 the French state could fairly be accused of turning its back on the accumulating problems of these banlieues, that is no longer true. Money has been poured into slum upgrading, youth centres and liaison with community leaders. An equal opportunities law has been passed to combat discrimination on the jobs market, and 50,000 youths have been offered training this year, with plans for a further 200,000 training and work experience places in the pipeline. Fadela Amara, the Towns Minister, is one of three high-profile appointees of African or Maghrebian origin in Nicolas Sarkozy’s governing team and is due to present a comprehensive development plan for the troubled suburbs in January.

As Interior Minister in 2005, Mr Sarkozy used controversially tough language to denounce the rioters – language better understood by those who endure crime-plagued streets than by bien-pensant habitués of Left Bank cafés. As President, he has struck a different note, promising a “Marshall plan” for the 750 most deprived suburbs, and insisting on the need for affirmative action to tackle social exclusion, even as he has tightened immigration laws for new arrivals.

There is little so far to show for all this effort; these are still suburbs where crime is high and hope is low. That is not surprising; it takes time to upgrade sink estates, turn around rotten schools and change attitudes to work in areas where up to 40 per cent of young people are jobless. A return to community policing is needed, but will not reduce hostility and distrust swiftly, let alone counter spreading religious extremism.

The banlieues cannot, above all, be tackled in isolation; the broader labour market reforms on the Sarkozy agenda, which alone will open up the jobs market for all young French people, are critical to improving the prospects of the most disadvantaged of that underemployed age group. Today’s emergency meeting must focus on checking the spread of violence. Tomorrow’s priority must still be getting France “back to work”.