The tragedy in Annecy has therefore put the subject of migration back at the center of the debate. Marine Le Pen and LR boss Eric Ciotti called on Friday for France to regain its “sovereignty” over immigration, in order to “no longer submit” to the “unsuitable” rules of the European Union. While the government has been working on a bill for months, the stabbing of six people, including four children, by a Syrian refugee, could well complicate the task of the macronists to find a majority in the Assembly on this subject. perilous.
“The government will have to deal with LR”
It is an understatement to say that the government text on immigration has been on a chaotic course for many months. Announced at the start of the five-year term, a bill was finally presented to the Council of Ministers in early February 2023, before beginning its parliamentary journey in the Senate the following month. But Emmanuel Macron finally buried him during his television interview on March 22… before pulling him out of the hat on April 17. During his speech, the President thus mentioned immigration as one of the challenges to be met during these famous “100 days” intended to relaunch his start to his five-year term.
The latest news, the hope of the macronists would be to examine a text this fall, once the senatorial elections have passed, for adoption at the end of the year. “We do not understand the calendar, we have no information. We discover that in the press…”, sighs a Renaissance executive. These multiple changes of footing are explained by the political difficulties of the presidential camp in the Assembly. In the absence of an absolute majority, the Macronist power must find allies. But the right, scalded by the pension reform, is determined not to make any gift to the executive on one of its favorite themes. “We put the cursor well to the right. The government will have to do with it, because it will not be able to pass anything without us, ”confesses an LR executive.
“Everyone must take a step”
On the strength of this pivotal position, Eric Ciotti, the boss of the senators Bruno Retailleau and the leader of the deputies Olivier Marleix therefore presented very firm proposals on immigration at the end of May, in particular providing for the possibility of derogating from the Constitution. European treaties and law. “We put our conditions on the table, the government to come out of the woods. They have been talking about immigration for a year, but what are their proposals really? “Asks Eric Pauget, LR deputy for the Alpes-Maritimes.
Initially, the government hoped to find a “balance” around two aspects: reception of immigrant workers in jobs in tension and hardening on reception and expulsions. “We remain very attached to standing on these two legs. Our position is between the two extremes, which advocate either zero immigration or the unconditional reception of foreigners, ”said Renaissance MP for Val-de-Marne Mathieu Lefèvre. A few days ago, Gérald Darmanin asked the majority and the LRs to find compromises. “There will be no agreement at any price. Everyone must take a step,” said the Minister of the Interior.
After the Annecy attack, the right hardens its speech
But on Wednesday, the macronists rejected in committee of the Assembly an LR bill, which aims to restrict State Medical Aid (AME), which allows foreigners in an irregular situation to access care. “It comforts us in the idea that they are not comfortable on this subject, that they are lost, that they lack consistency…”, breathes Pauget. “If Darmanin is in favor of a hardening, the Renaissance majority does not seem on this line”, he adds.
The prospect of a compromise seems all the more uncertain in the aftermath of the Annecy attack, which saw the leaders of the right harden their discourse on the reception of refugees. “The right should not engage in political politics such as pensions, otherwise they will find it difficult to explain this blocking posture to their electorate”, warns Mathieu Lefèvre. But the executive is also walking on eggshells internally, not unaware that immigration has often divided Walkers in recent years. “It’s not a simple addition of votes,” sighs one of the Renaissance officials in the Assembly. If we take over the program of the right, we will lose part of the majority, and probably more than LR ”. After the delicate sequence on pensions, here is a new headache for the government.