This Tuesday evening (December 19, 2023), the French Parliament passed a controversial immigration law with 349 yes and 186 no votes, which received the support of the extreme right in addition to the parties linked to President Emmanuel Macron.
“The immigration text has been finally voted on. It represents a long struggle for better integration of foreigners and the expulsion of those who have committed crimes. It is a strong and solid text,” emphasized the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin the social network X (formerly Twitter).
In the afternoon, French MPs and senators reached an agreement on the immigration law after tough negotiations with the support of the Rassemblement National (far right) and the Republicans (right).
The joint mixed commission, consisting of seven senators and seven representatives, began negotiations to agree on a new version of the text at 5 p.m. on Monday and, after a last-minute night, resumed negotiations at 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday. Smallest disagreements, especially regarding welfare.
The National Assembly (lower house) refused to debate the previous project on December 11, causing a setback for Macron (center).
The government decided to maintain the reform and convened a joint commission to find a compromise with the opposition.
Le Pen praised the agreement
The president of the far-right Rassemblement National (RN), Marine Le Pen, also praised the agreement and announced that her deputies would vote for the bill.
Image: Telmo Pinto/NurPhoto/picture Alliance
“We can look forward to ideological progress, even an ideological victory, for the Rassemblement Nationale, since the law now provides for national priority, i.e. ” wrote Le Pen.
“It is our text,” reacted the president of the right-wing Republican Party, Éric Ciotti. His group also voted for the text.
However, the leader of the Socialist group in parliament, Boris Vallaud, said the agreement represented “a great moment of shame”.
Tensions between Macron allies
The final orientation of the text, clearly right-wing, led to tensions between parties close to Macron, and five ministers threatened to resign.
The main focus of the negotiations was the delicate issue of social benefits for non-European foreigners in an irregular situation.
The law defended the setting of a minimum period of residence of five years in order to be eligible for certain aid.
According to parliamentary sources, the compromise sealed on Tuesday includes a distinction between non-EU foreigners (who are not European Union citizens) based on whether they are “employed” or not.
For example, certain benefits require that people who are not employed have lived in the territory for five years. Anyone who has a job must have stayed in the country for at least 32 months.
The new restrictions do not apply to foreign students, refugees or people with a residence card.
In a joint statement, several NGOs and unions condemned the agreement, calling the bill the “most retrogressive in at least 40 years” in France.
jc (afp, Portal)
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