In France, the passage of the text of the law on immigration before a joint joint committee this Monday, December 18, suggests several possible scenarios, and the risk for the majority of seeing their bill fail.
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In a final attempt to save the Immigration law prepared by the government, after the rejection motion adopted on Monday December 11, a joint committee (CMP) meets this Monday at the National Assembly from 5 p.m. Its mission: to find a compromise text that can satisfy the fourteen parliamentarians who make it up, half of whom are deputies and the other half are senators, representative of the political balances of the two chambers.
If the CMP debates will be held behind closed doors, the different political camps have already made known their line and their demands with regard to this text, suggesting several possible scenarios.
The “necessity” of a text for the majority
For the Renaissance deputies, it is the fruit of work over several months which is being played out today. The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin made this Immigration law his hobby horse, and tried to find a position of balance that he thought would be able to satisfy elected officials from the right and the left. “ We are mean to the delinquents, but kind to the good guys “, he summarized in November 2022 in a formula that has become emblematic of this text.
Hence the desire for the presidential camp to see this law succeed, deprived of examination before the National Assembly after the adoption of a motion to reject which brought together the votes of the Nupes, the Republicans and the National Rally. “ Today, there is a desire for agreement […] on the part of the government, on the part of the presidential majority and on the part of part of our opposition », Explained the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet.
Pledges given to the right
The government did not wait long before starting negotiations with the right: according to the AFP, the executive would have given its agreement to include a measure of forfeiture of nationality for dual nationals perpetrators of crimes against the forces of the order. A hardening of the birthright could also be part of the agreement, under which children born in France to foreign parents would now have to make known their wish to acquire French nationality when they come of age. And the president of LR Éric Ciotti claimed to have obtained guarantees concerning “ exemption from the application of soil law for minors who have committed a crime “.
If compromises seem to have been found, nothing is won: “ I received essays last night, which take into account a certain number of points, which are not completely satisfactory », Declared on BFMTV-RMC the leader of the LR in the Senate Bruno Retailleau, also a member of the CMP.
There remains the question of State Medical Aid (AME), transformed into Emergency Medical Aid in the version of the text drafted by the Senate. The government, which wishes to see this aspect reported in a separate bill, will not easily obtain the consent of the Republicans: Bruno Retailleau demanded that Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne send “ before 5 p.m. a letter » to the President of the Senate Gérard Larcher, detailing the future reform of the AME.
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On the sidelines of the negotiations between the right and the majority, the RN and Nupes persist in their opposition to the text. Through its president Jordan Bardella, the National Rally has made it known that it still remains firmly opposed to any measure of regularization of undocumented immigrants.
Faced with the absence of a guaranteed compromise with the right, the risk remains of not seeing any text come out of the CMP meeting. A situation which could lead in this case to the abandonment of the project: if recourse to 49.3 remains in theory possible, it was ruled out by Emmanuel Macron.
And in the event that a compromise text manages to emerge from the work of the CMP, its adoption by Parliament remains necessary. The president of the socialist group in the Assembly, Boris Vallaud, has already called on the “ humanists of Macronie » to vote against the bill.
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(With AFP)