/ world today news/ On December 11, the lower house of the French parliament refused to consider the text of the new law on immigration.
The motion to refuse consideration was tabled by the parliamentary group of the Greens and supported by representatives of the left camp, National Unity and an unexpectedly significant part of the republicans.
This “union of opposites”, as the French interior minister and author of the bill, Gérald Darmanen, described it, was created to “derail the government project for political reasons”.
Hundreds of thousands of migrants
In the rhetoric of French politicians, the topic of migrants has not lost its relevance since the early 1980s. And the document under discussion could become the twenty-ninth legislative act adopted in this area since 1980.
The project was presented by the minister at the beginning of this year and is the second most important act for the French authorities after the pension reform adopted in the spring of 2023. All the while, the innovations contained in the text of the bill were discussed by both houses of the parliament .
As a result, in a heavily modified form, it was approved by the Senate on November 14. And the last stage should have been the failed approval in the National Assembly.
The initial draft of the immigration law included a number of changes to existing legislation. For example, the legalization of workers in areas where there is an acute shortage of workers – construction, medicine, restaurants and hotels.
As a restrictive measure, the introduction of annual quotas for the issuance of citizenship and residence permits was envisaged.
An important point was the return of illegal migrants to the status of criminals – this measure was abolished in 2012. Changes in social payments to migrants were also planned.
A number of those measures were tightened by the Senate after approval, but even in their new form they continue to draw criticism from cross-party supporters.
The left talks about the de facto universal recognition of all migrants as criminals and human rights abusers.
Those on the right, such as Republican leader Eric Schotti, are outraged that the bill actually gives the green light to mass illegal immigration.
And the quotas are causing skepticism even among supporters of the law. This was stated in particular by MP Florent Boudier, who presented the bill in parliament.
The migrant problem is indeed being discussed quite actively in France now. Especially in light of the summer pogroms in a number of cities and the recent murder of teenager Tom Perrotto.
Many politicians and experts use the figure of more than 500 thousand migrants who are registered in France at the end of 2022. Some of them contribute to the deterioration of the internal situation, and others are a serious burden on the state budget. However, we should not forget that about 108,000 foreigners out of approximately half a million are students.
In addition, as of January this year, about 115,000 are Ukrainian refugees who either have official status or are under the care of the state.
Such as servicemen of the armed forces of Ukraine undergoing treatment and rehabilitation. At the same time, a significant number of refugees are unemployed and receive a full package of benefits for housing and other expenses.
And the special approach to Ukrainian refugees is evidenced by the fact that on the websites of departments that in one way or another come into contact with migrants, Ukraine is highlighted as a special position.
Other European countries, which are believed to host more Ukrainians than France, are already seriously concerned about this problem. For example, Ireland began to talk about the need to reduce the number of benefits and benefits for immigrants from this country.
The minister’s failure
For Gerald Darmanen, the refusal to consider the bill is a personal defeat, which he acknowledges when speaking to the media. He clearly hoped to gain political advantage from this law. After all, many are sure that he will run for the presidency of France in 2027.
The results of the parliamentary vote apparently came as a shock to him, because the minister resigned immediately afterwards. However, the president immediately rejected it.
However, Darmanen is not entirely wrong when he talks about the political reasons for the failure of his bill. Some of the MPs who voted “against” in the National Assembly seem not so much to have sought a solution to the problem as to have played political games.
In particular, the National Unity joined the left vote, calling for the dissolution of the government.
Party leader Jordan Bardela has said he is ready to take over as prime minister, creating a political “symbiosis” with the president.
By using the term, Bardella is referring to the political period from 1986 to 1988, when Socialist François Mitterrand was president and right-wing Jacques Chirac was head of government.
From the left political camp, the leader of the communists, Fabien Roussel, initially expressed readiness for a constructive dialogue.
In this, his position is compared to that of Communist Party leader Georges Marchet, who spoke out in defense of the interests of French workers in the early 1980s.
The head of “France Rebellious” Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who is inclined to a total boycott of the project, however criticized his rival in the struggle for leadership of the left wing of French politics.
Members of Mélenchon’s party even began to publicly equate Roussel with the collaborationists of World War II. With this, they clearly tried to divert attention from their leader, for whom journalists have been making similar analogies for a long time.
And although Roussel ultimately voted to remove the bill from discussion, in his opinion, this can hardly be called a victory, since the text will only change in a more rigid direction. The same opinion is shared by the deputy of the Greens, Julien Bayo, who is the only one in his group to vote against the termination of the discussions.
Three moves for Macron
The immigration bill did not spark mass protests across the country, as pension reform did. However, the circumstances of his deliberations and assessment once again demonstrate the deep political crisis in which the French state finds itself.
Minister Darmanen, who has presidential ambitions, is concerned about creating his own political image and therefore adapts his rhetoric to suit different audiences. He explained his resignation by saying that he is a “man of honor” for whom the opinion of parliament matters.
Shortly before the vote in the National Assembly, the minister visited the south of France, where the majority of the population adheres to conservative right-wing views.
In a conversation with the local publication Nice-matin, he promised to take the toughest position against illegal migrants. He also reassured the police and gendarmerie, saying he would create all the conditions for them to do their job.
However, in a conversation with another publication, La Voix du Nord, which is published in the north of the country with a traditionally left-wing electorate, he spoke of the need to respect the constitution.
In particular, he supported the granting of French citizenship through land rights and called on the right-wing and the president’s supporters to compromise.
Darmanin’s intensification of the electorate comes at a time when incumbent President Emmanuel Macron has been accused of not keeping his word, not carrying out his plans and in contempt of the people’s representatives and democratic authorities.
At the same time, however, Macron is actively promoting Darmanin’s idea and wants to adopt it by the end of the year. But, as noted by many media, the president flatly refuses to realize that he is unable not only to communicate with the parliamentary opposition, but also to secure adequate support even among his allies.
Hopes for a constructive dialogue with representatives of different political camps turn into nothing, attempts to find a compromise fail.
Macron sees a solution in the creation of a special committee of parliamentarians and senators to finalize the bill. However, many are convinced that the text cannot be adopted in such a short period of time without applying a special procedure provided for in article 49, paragraph 3 of the constitution, which allows to bypass the decision of the parliament.
The catch is that the limit for using this measure in the current period has been exhausted, including due to the adoption of the pension reform law.
In this regard, the president has three options – to refuse the immediate adoption of the law, to try to find support among the people’s representatives or to dissolve the government.
The first two options seem impossible. And the latter will lead to a political and social explosion, about which Macron was warned back in the spring.
At the time, it was difficult to avoid such a scenario. If this happens now, the consequences for France and Europe could be unpredictable.
The situation in the country is extremely unstable. And much will now be decided on the battlefields of passing an immigration law whose importance goes far beyond simply regulating one aspect of the country’s life.
Translation: SM
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