It was the most anticipated announcement of Elisabeth Borne’s speech, Wednesday April 26, from the Elysee Palace. It was actually a postponement: the immigration bill, presented as the future great trial by fire after the pension reform, is postponed until the fall.
The head of government was speaking as part of a presentation of her roadmap for the “one hundred days of peace” And “action” decreed on April 17 by Emmanuel Macron, in an attempt to turn the page on pension reform.
“Today, there is no majority to vote for such a text, as I have been able to verify [mardi] talking to Republican officials. They still have to find a common line between the Senate and the Assembly”justified the Prime Minister, as an echo of the sequence of retirements where the support of some of the LR deputies failed him.
On immigration, “if we cannot find a global agreement, we will in any case present a text in the fall with, as the only compass, efficiency”she added.
Moreover, “Now is not the time to start a debate on a subject that could divide the country”added Elisabeth Borne about this text carried by the ministers of the interior, Gérald Darmanin, and of work, Olivier Dussopt.
On this theme, it is an additional incident when Emmanuel Macron had mentioned “one text” Sunday, after having himself announced, on March 22, a division of the project to keep only the most consensual aspects, for lack of an absolute majority in the National Assembly. The maneuver had aroused hostility on both the right and the left, Gérald Darmanin himself pleading for “a strong bill”.
The Republicans, who hold the keys to the Senate, have been raising the stakes for months on this highly symbolic subject for their camp.
While the government promises a balance between the expulsion of foreigners who threaten public order and better integration of undocumented migrants – in particular through the regularization of workers in sectors in ” tension “ –LR’s proposals are radical: “No more rights for illegal immigrants, no more social benefits from day one for regulars”or treat “Asylum requests at the border”according to the boss of the right, Eric Ciotti. “Is Mr. Macron ready to enshrine all this in law? I doubt it, and I also doubt that we have the capacity in Parliament to have a text adopted, even taking into account the opposition in the majority “he summarized.
To show that the executive acts on this ” priority “ without waiting for a law, the Prime Minister announced the mobilization ” from next week “ of “one hundred and fifty additional police and gendarmes in the Alpes-Maritimes” to do “in the face of increased migratory pressure at the Italian border”.
“Breathless”, “hollow”, “a lot of blah-blah”
The oppositions harshly judged the intervention of Elisabeth Borne.
“A rugged roadmap”criticized the first secretary of the Socialist Party (PS), Olivier Faure, asking in a tweet if the head of government, “without breath, nor means to act alone”will dare “ask for the confidence of Parliament”.
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“When a government can no longer govern, even for stupid decisions, for lack of a majority, it is because it must go away and its reforms”estimated the leader of the “rebellious”, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, on Twitter also.
The leader of the environmental deputies, Cyrielle Chatelain, saw in this speech, “a hollow and pointless exercise in style. Next time, to present the parliamentary work schedule to us, a letter will suffice”, she wrote.
The leader of the Communists, Fabien Roussel, for his part denounced in a tweet “a lot of talk for nothing. Nothing on salaries, nothing on pensions”.
On this fundamental question [de l’immigration]it is more necessary than ever to resort to a referendum”, estimated Eric Ciotti.
Eric Ciotti has, in fact, called for a referendum to modify the Constitution and France’s commitments in terms of family reunification.
The patroness of the National Rally deputies, Marine Le Pen, noted that“Emmanuel Macron and Elisabeth Borne have nothing more to say or to offer the French. There is no longer a government at the head of France, only an administration of current affairs..
What to remember from Elisabeth Borne’s speech
- The Head of Government wished to detail “concrete solutions [et] life changing actions [des Français] »in his words, at the end of the Council of Ministers. To show that the executive acts on this ” priority “ without waiting for a law, the head of government announced mobilization ” from next week “ of “one hundred and fifty additional police and gendarmes in the Alpes-Maritimes” to do “in the face of increased migratory pressure at the Italian border”.
- For the “one hundred days of peace”she announced thata law project “green industry” would be presented in mid-May. “This is the meaning of the decarbonization roadmap for the major industrial sectors and the fifty most emitting sites”she explained.
- She also promised to get “a fairer distribution of the wealth produced by companies” And has set itself the task of debating in Parliament for the next three months “of the bill transposing the agreement between the social partners on the sharing of value”. The Prime Minister also called the companies “to act collectively to raise wages”.
- On environmental issues, Elisabeth Borne proposed “personalized support” for the thermal renovation of housing.
- Asked about her commitment not to use Article 49.3 outside the budget text, the head of government said to herself “confident” in the government’s ability to find majorities project by project or by blocks of texts”adding that it is his ” objective “.