Emmanuel Macron kept his promise. A week after the adoption of the immigration bill, the President of the Republic referred it to the Constitutional Council. The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, and more than sixty deputies also rely on this jurisdiction composed of nine members, as can be seen on its site.
“Given the extent of the evolution of the text compared to its initial version and the importance for our nation of the constitutional rights and principles in question, I wish, in the name of the mission entrusted to me by Article 5 of the Constitution, that the provisions of the law can only be implemented after the Constitutional Council has verified that they respect the rights and freedoms that the Constitution guarantees”, declared the Head of State in his referral. He recalls that the immigration law was modified after its passage in the Senate and in the joint committee: 60 articles had been added to the initial 26. Under article 61, Emmanuel Macron therefore prefers to rely on the authority chaired by Laurent Fabius. And get rid of a bag of knots?
To vote on its text in a joint committee, the government was forced to satisfy the right. Certain measures were largely encouraged by the Republicans, even drawn from the program of the National Rally. Enough to cause an outcry within the government itself: Aurélien Rousseau, Minister of Health, slammed the door. This law also fractured the majority, leading to a fairly unprecedented split in its left wing. Around sixty deputies voted against or abstained in the final vote. A setback for the executive.
Appease the majority
So, Emmanuel Macron seeks appeasement. The rejection of certain provisions by the Constitutional Council would perhaps allow it to forget this political storm. Among the measures that could be in the spotlight: multi-year immigration quotas voted by Parliament, the reinstatement of an offense of illegal residence, or even the measure strengthening the conditions of access to social benefits for foreigners. In other words, this aid will fluctuate depending on the professional situation and the length of presence in France. A principle which could constitute a breach of equality between people, in disagreement with the Constitution. Same reasoning for the “deposit on the return” of foreign students, which could fail for the same reason after reading the Sages.
So many provisions that displease the left opposition. On December 22, its deputies seized the Sages of the rue de Montpensier in order to contest the entire immigration law and “a record number of articles contrary to constitutional principles”. The elected representatives of the four left-wing groups (LFI, PS, ecologists and communists) indicated in a press release that they should be “heard at the beginning of January” at the Constitutional Council.
By its own admission, the executive had admitted that certain measures might not be consistent with the Constitution. On December 19, the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, declared in the Senate: “Measures are manifestly and clearly contrary to the Constitution. The work of the Constitutional Council will do its job, but politics is not not be a lawyer before the lawyers, argued the Minister of the Interior. The policy is to develop standards and to see whether or not they are, in our opinion, compliant.” The next day, the head of state appeared on the set of France 5. “Was it because there were articles contrary to the Constitution that it was necessary to say no text? My answer is no,” he argued, assuming to fight against irregular immigration. No date for deliberations by the Constitutional Council has yet been set regarding these referrals.