The former Prime Minister spoke in “L’Express” on the migration issue and notably questioned a 55-year-old agreement with Algeria.
Since 1968, France and Algeria have had an agreement concerning migratory flows. The latter organizes the entry, stay and employment of Algerians in France, according to rules derogating from common law. On certain points, the Algerians are favored compared to other foreigners (in particular as regards family reunification), on others they are losers (in particular for the students). In an interview with L’Express, published this Monday, June 5, Édouard Philippe questions this agreement, evokes a possible renegotiation and distills several positions against “immigration of the accomplished fact”, while the subject agitates the majority and the LAW.
This text “completely determines the law applicable to the entry and residence of Algerian nationals, with stipulations which are much more favorable than ordinary law. This is a very distinct feature. No national of another state enjoys such benefits,” said the former prime minister.
: “The Algerians laugh at our naivety” “Of course, there are extremely powerful historical relations between France and Algeria, but the maintenance today of such a device with a country with which we have complicated relations no longer seems justified to me,” continues Édouard Philippe.
In this interview, the president of Horizons evokes a “fait accompli immigration” in France, with “a very strong acceleration in the increase in the number of foreigners” since the beginning of the 2000s. And “the geographical origin of foreigners, too, has changed”, with a greater proportion of foreigners coming from North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
“During this period, the French population increased by 9% and the number of foreigners increased by 53%. And nothing in this development corresponds to a political choice or to a decision that we would have taken, ”continues the mayor of Le Havre.
Integration, Islam, and Work
Édouard Philippe tackles “three things left unsaid” in terms of immigration: “First, we say that we want fewer foreigners in France, but when a certain number of our fellow citizens say so, they aim actually people who are French, sometimes for three generations. Controlling the entry of foreigners into France will not solve this problem. It is a subject of integration, education, and civic-mindedness. “The second unsaid concerns Islam”, which has become “a central subject, a worrying subject, an obsessive subject”.
“Finally, there is the unspoken work. Many French people find that there are too many foreigners in France, but in Parisian restaurants, in the tourist industry, in the agricultural sector, in a whole series of economic sectors that are not in crisis and which are essential to French success, we rely on a quite impressive number of foreigners, ”explains Édouard Philippe.
“Immigration is not at the heart of people’s demands”The former Prime Minister says he is “very supportive of the proposals made by Gérald Darmanin and Olivier Dussopt”, while the executive is looking for ways to a parliamentary majority with LR on the immigration aspect. “This law is necessary, but I know that it is not sufficient”, he nevertheless specifies.
He says he is “opposed to any massive regularization and favorable to the principle proposed by Olivier Dussopt: to allow people exercising professional activities in sectors where the national interest requires to be able to continue to do so. I would prefer that this regularization be done on a case-by-case basis”.
Édouard Philippe says he understands “the objective pursued by LR”, who wants to modify the Constitution in order to be able to derogate from European and international law, but “this proposal is not satisfactory in its terms. It would be interpreted for what it is, that is to say a form of legal Frexit”.
