The royal parenthesis constituted by Charles III’s visit to France does not eclipse the major issues that loom over the government’s return to office. The Lampedusa crisis has placed the future immigration bill back in the public debate at a time when the executive, looking for allies to have it adopted, would prefer to keep a low profile. In ambush, the National Rally is taking advantage of this to already start its campaign for the European elections by setting up its duel with the presidential camp. Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade, Renaissance president of the European Affairs Committee of the National Assembly, answers questions from L’Express on these subjects which are mixed and intertwined and sounds the charge against Marine le Pen. Interview.
L’Express: Should we welcome some of the migrants who are currently vegetating in Lampedusa?
Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade: There cannot be automatic reception; situations must be examined on a case-by-case basis. Let’s face it, a migrant who is not eligible for asylum is not intended to stay on European soil. But if we want to preserve the right to asylum which is our honor and prevent it from being misused, to allow channels of regular migration which are necessary, we must be much more efficient in processing requests and more firm with regard to -screw those who are rejected.
Beyond this particular situation in Lampedusa, we must face the migration issue. Migration phenomena will intensify in the years to come, this is the reality: this is the reason why, as Europeans, we must organize ourselves, which is not yet the case.
Gérald Darmanin declared Tuesday evening, at 8 p.m. on TF1, that France will not welcome any of these migrants, while Emmanuel Macron believes that France has a “duty of European solidarity” with the‘Italy. NOT‘isn’t that contradictory?
Since 2017, the President of the Republic has always defended a more sovereign Europe and therefore capable of controlling its borders. France has also been the driving force behind European solidarity in recent years. But France’s European solidarity can be expressed in different ways, such as increased aid to help Italy control its borders.
You say that Europe is not yet organized to face this major challenge, to what extent is it behind?
The crisis we are experiencing at the moment is a reflection of our inability to organize collectively due to the blockages of Marine Le Pen and her nationalist allies in Europe. When it comes to migration, we are in the middle and therefore we are not as effective as we could be if we were united. France has proposed to process asylum requests at the borders, to strengthen Frontex so that they are better controlled, to harmonize asylum procedures between member states… When the RN and its allies oppose the asylum pact -immigration, they block the ability of Europeans to organize themselves and they do it knowingly. They live from the immigration business! The National Rally plays into the hands of the smugglers by maintaining nationalist divisions in Europe. Basically, Marine Le Pen and Jordan Bardella are not much better than smugglers. Preventing Europeans from organizing is serving their electoral enterprise.
Are Giorgia Meloni’s choices an admission of failure for the European far right?
Giorgia Meloni understood that she needed the European Union. She understood that we could only succeed by cooperating with other countries on the continent. Look at the English: since they left the European Union, the number of arrivals on the territory has doubled and the United Kingdom is now asking for more cooperation with the EU. Nationalist policies all end in failure. Basically, what is happening in Italy shows us what the policy of the RN in power would be: a form of paralysis and ineffectiveness of French migration policy. In Beaucaire, Marine Le Pen announced that she wanted to establish a “declaration of the rights of nations and peoples”… It is, nothing more and nothing less, than a Frexit, because it would deviate from European rules. She has never abandoned this idea, she put it on the back burner because the French are not in favor of it, but the core project of her program is France’s exit from the European Union.
Is Renaissance already planning to set up a duel with the RN in the next European elections?
We want to serve the French, the RN wants to lie to them. So yes, our enemy is the National Rally. By wanting to weaken Europe, the RN is acting against the interests of the French people. Very clearly, in the European elections, we are going to carry a project of strengthening and sovereignty of Europe. The migration crisis shows that there is still a lot of work to be stronger and more responsive. The Europhobic party that is the RN has been systematically wrong about all the crises we have had to manage: Covid, the war in Ukraine, and these migration crises. We must still realize that RN elected officials sit in the European Parliament with people who are against abortion or who wish to reduce the rights of LGBT people.
Should Stéphane Séjourné be the future head of the majority list?
I believe that Stéphane Séjourné takes precedence. However, the time is still for action, that of the incarnation will come later. We will not fall into the trap set by our opponents by entering the campaign now, by conducting a national campaign. The National Rally wants to make these European elections a referendum for or against Emmanuel Macron. We want to talk to the French about real European issues, fight against climate change, recreate industry on the continent, control immigration, protect ourselves against Russia. We don’t only talk about Europe once every five years. Unlike the RN, for us Europe is not just a cash drawer.
The situation in Lampedusa has brought the immigration bill back into the French public debate. For the majority, is there a light at the end of the tunnel? How can this text be adopted?
Today there is a weakness in our national organization and the French expect firm measures. We want to carry out two radical actions together: a more rapid expulsion of those who have nothing to do on our national soil and, at the same time, create the residence permit for professions in tension to better integrate people who are intended to remain in France. For this text to be adopted, it must be the result of this balance. The French are in favor of it, as are the employers’ organizations who are all asking for this! Moreover, these organizations must take their responsibility and express it more clearly. We must look at our situation with lucidity, courage and intellectual honesty. The LRs cannot defend this measure in their constituencies and oppose it at the national level. There is a form of hypocrisy. I therefore believe that there must be a majority to vote for this text, everyone must simply be honest and responsible.
Article 3, on the “jobs in tension” residence permit, must therefore not disappear…
The position of the majority group is very clear: both poles of the text are necessary.
Sacha Houlié, Renaissance president of the Assembly’s Law Committee, signed a forum with several members of the Nupes to defend this measure. Was this relevant, knowing that the Nupes deputies do not intend to vote on the bill at the end of its examination?
Nupes must also assume its responsibilities. Nupes voters expect clear action. I am pleased that some of its representatives were able to find themselves around Sacha Houlié, who is an important person in the majority. It’s all well and good to sign statements, but we will have to vote! Sacha Houlié was right to reach out to elected officials from the left: the majority aims to build bridges with other republican components of the Assembly. The majority is not intended to work only with the right. We are a major bloc, a central current, which must work with all those who want to work for the general interest. But socialists and ecologists must have this courage too.
So France Insoumise (LFI) remains sidelined, just like the RN…
Nothing is forbidden, but rebellious France has been in a headlong rush for a year now, which is damaging the image of the political class. The positions of LFI are very far from those of the majority, working today with France Insoumise is not possible. As for the RN, I told you, it is our enemy.
The positions in the office of the National Assembly will soon be put back into play: some of your colleagues believe that we must ensure that the RN deputies are ousted when the President of the National Assembly pleads for the status quo. What is your position ?
I believe that the legitimacy resulting from the polls should not be a pretext to trivialize the National Rally and its ideas. We must all be vigilant against the institutional entryism of the RN, because that is exactly what they are doing. We will address this subject collectively in the majority to define our common position, but I think that it is not up to the majority to choose its oppositions. The oppositions will have to agree themselves to decide how they distribute responsibilities. In a context of relative majority, the constraints must be shared, it is up to the oppositions to also do the job, when voting on the texts as well as on the organization of our National Assembly.