how the APL derailed the discussions between LR and the majority during the joint committee

However, the discussion should “to be bent”, according to an elected representative from Les Républicains (LR). MDespite four hours of suspension and an emergency meeting in Matignon, negotiations in the joint committee (CMP) on the subject of the immigration bill were unsuccessful on Monday, December 18. A new obstacle in the path of this text, voted on in the Senate, but rejected before its examination in the National Assembly.

After this snub for Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin, the government, up against the wall, chose to convene a CMP, with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne negotiating directly with LR to reach a compromise text. The seven senators and the seven deputies plan to meet Tuesday morning to complete the process and try to iron out the differences between the majority and LR.

However, the discussions seemed well underway. The CMP voted for the principle of multi-year immigration quotas defined in Parliament and an annual debate on the subject, as LR wanted, or even the creation of an offense of illegal residence punishable by a fine. But a sticking point remains: personalized housing assistance (APL).

The text studied by the CMP, voted by the Senate, introduced a provision extending to five years of residence, compared to six months currently, the time necessary for non-European foreigners in a legal situation to benefit from certain social benefits, including APL and family allowances.

“We feel cheated by the government”

The subject has long been a red line for the majority, traumatized by the controversy which followed the reduction of 5 euros in APL during Emmanuel Macron’s first five-year term. LHowever, both camps thought they had reached an agreement during their weekend negotiations: a period of thirty months before being able to access this aid for foreigners who work, and five years for those who do not work. Except that once the commission met, the LR elected officials discovered that the APL did not appear in the compromise text.

“VSContrary to what we had been told, we discovered that APL had been reinstated in the list of benefits that foreigners can receive.explained the president of the LR group in the Senate, Bruno Retailleau, on X (ex-Twitter), a few minutes after a suspension of the session. “We feel cheated by the government”slipped an LR executive to the political department of France Télévisions in the process.

Everyone stuck to their positions on Monday. “We will not give in”, thus promised franceinfo a majority deputy, while LR Pierre-Henri Dumont affirmed that his camp would be “extremely firm on the fact that the PLAs are part of the final text”.

“It will last as long as it lasts”, warned Bruno Retailleau at the LCP microphone Tuesday morning. Enough to make the majority doubt the sincerity of the right. “Do the LR really want an agreement?”asked an executive advisor to franceinfo.

“A complete reversal of universalism”

Will the majority be able to swallow “a snake” moreover, as several members of the opposition denounced? “When we work and we are in a regular situation, we must be able to benefit from a certain number of social benefits, otherwise it would be a blow to the way we have built our social protection system in our country.”explained Renaissance MP for Paris Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet on franceinfo on Sunday. On the LR side, Annie Genevard, deputy for Doubs and member of the CMP, judged Tuesday morning on franceinfo that it was necessary “make the social model less attractive”.

The question of social benefits has caused a reaction in the ranks of the opposition. The environmentalist deputy of Paris Sandrine Rousseau thus denounced to the newspaper The world “a complete reversal of universalism, of the philosophy of the French social system”. The boss of the socialists in the Assembly, Boris Vallaud, believes for his part that the “majority has given in on all the red lines, and has now crossed the blue lines Marine”in reference to the color adopted by the National Rally.

The right-wing of the text also makes people happy. “We are delighted that this text takes up a considerable number of positions that we have defended for several years with Marine Le Pen”, RN MP Edwige Diaz congratulated herself in front of the pressmember of the CMP.

This state of affairs could, however, cost the government votes. “If we continue to toughen the text, particularly with the APL in social benefits, a large part of the Liot group could not vote for it”warned the president of the group Bertrand Plancher, to LCI.