Agence France-Presse reported that after a long and arduous negotiation, the year-on-year mixed committee (CMP), composed of seven senators and seven members of the National Assembly, reached a consensus on the immigration bill proposed by France on December 19. Because the ruling majority has made too many concessions to the right-wing Republican Party, the text of the bill is considered "full of unscrupulous xenophobia" by leftists and non-** organizations, and is "the most perverse text in four decades". The far-right National League has expressed support for the bill, arguing that it incorporates the party's ideology. Many within the ruling majority also oppose the text of the bill, with a level of seriousness that has not been seen since Macron's presidency, with three ministers who oppose the bill rumored to be threatening to resign. In addition, business owners' associations and trade unions oppose the immigration bill, and even university presidents believe that this is a strategy that undermines the dignity of France and the attraction of talents for higher education and scientific research. Regardless of whether the National Assembly passes the bill or not, it is estimated that it will be difficult for France** and French society to get out of the crisis for a while.
"Don't want the support vote of the League".
The right-wing Republican-dominated Senate voted at 7 p.m. that night to pass the bill with 214 votes in favor and 114 against. The majority of the ruling majority senators voted in favor of the Republican Party and the center-row senators, and all three leftist parties voted against.
At 21:30 that night, the National Assembly will vote on the bill, because of serious internal differences, there is suspense in the vote, but Prime Minister Bornet spoke before the vote, accusing the League of making small moves, saying that the support of the League members will not be counted, and the ruling majority members of the parliament will actively vote for it and pass the bill by their own votes.
"Principle of national priority".
The CMP meeting began at 5 p.m. on December 18, but was quickly suspended due to serious disagreements and resumed at 10:30 p.m. After a night of debate, a consensus was finally reached. The right-wing Republican leader Theotti said he was pleased that "this is the text we want" and that Republican lawmakers will vote for the immigration bill.
Although it was the ruling majority that made concessions to the right, the League was satisfied with the revised text of the bill. Le Pen, the chairman of the party's parliamentary group, welcomed the consensus reached at the CMP meeting, saying that MPs from the National League would vote in favor of the immigration bill when the National Assembly voted. "We are pleased that this is a great leap forward for the ideology of the League, and it can even be said to be a victory for the ideology of the League, because the bill includes the priorité nationale, that is, the priority of the French over foreigners on French territory in terms of access to certain social benefits".
"Don't Let the League pollute the bill".
The political parties on the left oppose the immigration bill, believing that the ruling majority has actually compromised with the BNA, which is a "shameless" act, a "political turn", and has crossed the "sea blue line", that is, it has accepted the concept of the BN. Leaders of leftist parties have called on the "humanitarians" in the ruling majority to refrain from voting for the bill and "not to let the League pollute it".
Boris Vallaud, president of the National Assembly group of the leftist Socialist Party, criticized it as a moment of national shame for France.
The general secretary of the French Communist Party, Roussell, has already introduced a motion in the National Assembly to reject the immigration bill.
"Hope ** to take back the bill".
The centrist caucus Liot does not participate in the ruling majority, but wants the support of the caucus. It's just that this party is also facing internal divisions, with one-third expected to support the bill, one-third against, and one-third abstain. The party chairman, Bertrand Pancher, lamented: "What farce are we doing?Our democracy is sick. He demanded that the bill be "withdrawn" hours before the vote in the National Assembly, "because we face a serious political crisis".
Eliminate key points of divergence
Previously, the ruling majority and the Republican Party had a confrontation in the final negotiations – the question of how long a non-EU foreigner with legal residence in France must meet the requirements of how long he could live in France in order to receive social benefits, which almost led to the failure of the negotiation.
The right-wing Republican Party requires that non-EU foreigners with legal residence must have lived in France for at least five years in order to receive Allocations Familiales, Individualised Housing Grants (APL) or Disability Grants (PCH).
According to various sources within the National Assembly, the CMP meeting finally reached a difficult consensus to make a distinction between working and non-working non-EU foreigners who have legal residence: working non-EU foreigners must stay in France for 30 months in order to receive family allowance, disability allowance (APA) or enjoy a contestable right to housing (DALO), and non-EU foreigners who do not have a job must live in France for at least 5 years.
As for the most controversial individualised housing grant, non-EU foreigners who are not employed must have lived in France for at least 5 years, and only 3 months if they are employed.
These new restrictions do not apply to international students. Asylum seekers and non-EU foreigners with more than 10 years of residence are also exempt from the new rules.
Too many concessions
The ruling majority has made too many concessions to the right, in addition to the above-mentioned restrictions on the need to live in France for a certain period of time in order to receive social benefits, and the fact that the National Assembly will set a multi-year immigration limit (quotas d) in the future'immigration pluriannuels）；Illegal residence of a foreigner in France is a misdemeanour punishable by a fine;The legalization of undocumented foreign workers is handled on a case-by-case basis and is decided by the provincial governors** In response to the right-wing Republican ultimatum at the last minute, Prime Minister Bornet personally wrote a letter pledging to reform free state medical assistance (AME) for undocumented aliens next year.
Inner-majority faction**
With the support of the National League, the immigration bill is likely to pass in the National Assembly, but the ruling majority politically is in trouble.
Before the votes in the Senate and the National Assembly, Macron ** urgently convened a meeting of the ruling majority members at the Elysee Palace at 6 pm on the 19th. He summarized the situation with Prime Minister Borne, the chairmen of several parliamentary groups and the leaders of the ruling majority.
Many in the ruling majority are unhappy with the text adopted by the CMP and supported by the far-right National Alliance, which is unprecedented since the emergence of Macron. Sacha Houlié, president of the Ba'ath Party of the Law Committee of the National Assembly, who is also the president of the CMP, made it clear that the text adopted by the CMP made too many concessions to the right, and that he himself would vote against it when the National Assembly voted. The chairman of the pro-democracy movement, which is part of the ruling majority, also said that he "does not accept" the immigration bill supported by the National League.
The three ministers threatened to resign
Apparently, the ** camp is in crisis, and there are rumors that several ministers are ready to resign. One minister, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said he was extremely uncomfortable that differences over the immigration bill had been resolved with the support of the National League. A member of the ruling Ba'ath MP said that the PN support for the bill was like a "kiss of death" for the ruling majority. A pro-democracy MP also said that "we fell into the hands of the League of Nations and suffered defeat on all fronts", while Le Pen "won everything".
Later, ** internal sources confirmed that Health Minister Rousseau, Higher Education Minister Hedayo and Housing Minister Villegreette "went to the Prime Minister's Office to meet with Prime Minister Bornet and threatened to resign." In addition, the three ministers and the Minister of Culture, Abdul Malak, the Minister of Industry, Le Güer, and the chairman of the Law Committee of the National Assembly, Ullieh, and other left-wingers of the ruling majority, will meet urgently that night.
The employers' association opposed the bill
On December 19, the French employers' association "French Enterprise Movement" (MEDEF) also expressed its opposition to the immigration bill, and Patrick Martin, president of the organization, pointed out that the French economy will need a large number of migrant workers in the coming decades.
The presidents of more than two dozen major universities also opposed the immigration bill, saying that the measures contained in the bill "undermine the dignity of our country", run counter to the spirit of the Enlightenment, and undermine France's ambition to develop higher education, "seriously affecting France's strategy of attracting talents for higher education and scientific research".
At the same time, more than 50 associations, trade unions and non-** organizations have accused France of being "the most perverse text in at least 40 years" and full of "unscrupulous xenophobia".
"There may be a second vote".
Macron said that night that the immigration bill could not be passed by a vote of the League of Nations, and if the result of the vote was so, he would ask the National Assembly to hold a second vote.
At the same time, Macron said he rejected any proposal to amend the constitution on immigration.
Interior Minister Darmanin also showed a conciliatory gesture, saying on the evening of the 19th that if the immigration bill is passed, he will double the number of undocumented foreign workers legalized, adding 7,000-1,000 per year. ** explained that the increase in the number of undocumented foreign workers is the result of a consensus with the right on the issue of legalizing undocumented foreign workers in understaffed industries, which is also the star provision of the immigration bill.
It is reported that according to the current regulations, about 10,000 undocumented foreign workers were legalized in 2022, compared to between 6,000 and 8,000 per year in previous years.
Editor: Winter Rain).