If the immigration law remains partially consistent with candidate Macron’s initial program, particularly in his approach to integration and European management of migration issues, it concretizes a shift on quotas, the rights of foreigners and social assistance…
The economy first! During his presidential campaign and in the weeks following his election in 2017, Emmanuel Macron will have prioritized the transformation of the country and the “start-up nation” that he called for, abandoning sovereign and migration issues. His program on immigration, summarized in a handful of measures, then reflected an open position, insisting on the need for rapid integration, with simplified procedures, all within a European framework. This approach remained in line with his positions as Minister of the Economy, where immigration was presented in his speech more as an “opportunity” than as a burden for France.
But, faced with a drop in popularity and unfavorable polls from the first months of his first five-year term, the head of state will make a very rapid turnaround on the subject, investing the migratory field with a firmer tone. The creation of “hot spots” in Libya and the objective of having no migrants on the streets by the end of 2017 will be the first clear signals of this turnaround. They will be followed by a first bill called “asylum and immigration”, carried by Gérard Collomb in 2018, and already welcomed by the right, while creating tensions within its majority.
A progressive right-wing on immigration
In 2022, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen still clearly opposed each other on several aspects of immigration policy. While the far-right candidate defended the national priority, the abolition of the right of soil and wanted to process asylum requests only from abroad, the outgoing president always placed the emphasis on stricter and conditioned integration, as well as than on European border management. Without going any further.
However, he will announce a new draft law on immigration for the start of 2023, presenting it as a “necessary” overhaul of the reception system as a whole, deemed “inefficient and inhumane”. The recently adopted immigration bill will finalize this change in the line of Macronism, with major concessions made to the right and even substantive support for the National Rally.
Among the legal measures that candidate Macron had not announced in his presidential programs, we find significant restrictions on social benefits for non-European foreigners, a tightening of the conditions for regularization of undocumented workers, access to French nationality and family reunification, and changes in migration quotas, forfeiture of nationality, and land rights, even if it maintains some of Macron’s initial visions. Among the points of tension, State Medical Aid (AME) has been maintained, even if its access will be more restrictive.
The 2017 program: welcome, simplify, integrate
In 2017, Emmanuel Macron set 4 objectives in terms of immigration and asylum: give absolute priority to integration, promote knowledge immigration, ensure that France assumes its fair share in welcoming refugees while returning those who are not accepted to the border more effectively and finally promoting a Europe that protects its borders while respecting its values.
Objective 1: integration.
“Integration in France requires, above all, mastery of the language, which conditions employment and integration, and knowledge of the values of the Republic,” said the candidate’s program. .
- We will propose that every legal foreigner arriving in France be entitled to sufficient language training to reach level B1 (level which allows naturalization). This certification:
- We will set up local integration programs
Objective 2: immigration of knowledge.
- We will streamline procedures and reduce the time taken to obtain “talent” visas, to improve the attractiveness of France in the international competition to attract foreign talent (business creators, investors, researchers or artists). ).
- We will develop circulation visas for professionals (businesses, scientists, etc.): these should be registered on a bona fide list established under the responsibility of the local chamber of commerce or the regional economic service of the embassy, in order to to enable rapid processing of files.
- We will simplify the terms of access to work for all students with a master’s degree in France.
- It is in our interest that they participate in our scientific and economic development and establish professional links with national economic players.
Objective 3: welcoming refugees.
“France must live up to its historic tradition of welcoming, while showing itself, in always dignified conditions, inflexible with people who do not meet the conditions of stay on our territory.
A political refugee is not someone who chooses to leave their country for comfort,” assured Emmanuel Macron on France Inter on February 1, 2017.
- We will reform the conditions for examining asylum applications with the aim of ensuring a decision is made within 8 weeks for all applications.
- We will reform the terms of appeal against refusal decisions. In the event of an appeal, the judgment will take place within 6 to 8 weeks.
Objective 4: Europe and its borders.
- We will strengthen the European border police force, giving it a capacity for sustainable surveillance and protection of external borders. We must set an ambition of 5,000 men who can be mobilized by the new European Border and Coast Guard Agency.
- We will develop actions and projects in the main countries of departure and transit of migrants, in a complementary and additional manner to our development aid, also supporting the installation of checkpoints in these countries before arrival in the EU, help in the fight against smugglers and the return of migrants unauthorized to enter the EU.
No real change in 2022
During the 2022 presidential election, Emmanuel Macron did not propose any real change compared to his first five-year term.
- Continue to overhaul the right to asylum and the right to stay so that decisions are made more quickly. Refusal of the right to asylum would mean an obligation to leave French territory
- Make the granting of a long-stay permit conditional on passing a French exam and professional success
- Stop the renewal of third-country nationals disturbing public order
- Create a Schengen steering council
- Create an emergency intergovernmental mechanism to help Frontex
- “Take your part” in welcoming Ukrainian refugees