Migration - French parliament in favor of stricter immigration law
In a nail-biting battle, France's government has pushed its controversial immigration law through parliament in a stricter version. Both the Senate and the National Assembly approved a compromise text. The bill has thus been passed.
While the centrist government under President Emmanuel Macron was recently certain of the conservatives' approval, it had to fear for the cohesion of its own camp due to concessions to the bourgeois right.
Bill is significantly more restrictive
With this project, the government wants to better control immigration and improve integration. The bill that has now been passed is significantly more restrictive than originally envisaged. Regular migrants are to receive certain social benefits such as housing subsidies or family allowances later than before.
Parliament is to debate annual immigration quotas. Furthermore, the criminal offense of irregular residence, which was abolished under Socialist President François Hollande, is to be reintroduced. Dual nationals who commit crimes against law enforcement officers are also to lose their French nationality.
One of the core measures of the government's plan, according to which migrants working without residence papers in professions with a shortage of personnel are to be granted a temporary residence permit, will only be implemented in a significantly restricted form.
Search for a compromise
After the left-wing camp, the conservative Républicains and the right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National rejected the bill in the National Assembly last week before the plenary debate, the centrist government sought a compromise in a commission. In order to secure the approval of the conservatives, it made considerable concessions to them.
Resistance also came from within its own ranks. According to media reports, several ministers from the left wing of the government considered resigning. Several MPs from the left wing of the Macron camp had already announced before the vote that they would vote against the text.
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- Despite the tension within its own ranks, the French government, led by President Emmanuel Macron, managed to push their stricter immigration law through a trembling Parliament, securing approval from both the Senate and the National Assembly.
- The passed bill, significantly more restrictive than initially planned, aims to enhance immigration control and integration in France, with regular migrants now set to receive social benefits later than before.
- In the wake of this legislation, Parliament will now debate annual immigration quotas, and the criminal offense of irregular residence, previously abolished under Socialist President François Hollande, will be reintroduced.
- Regarding one of the key measures of the government's plan - granting temporary residence permits to migrants working without papers in shortage-occupied professions - this will be implemented in a significantly restricted form.
Source: www.stern.de
