The subject of quotas could well turn into a controversy, even a fault line within the government itself. Gérald Darmanin and Olivier Dussopt, the Ministers of the Interior and Labour, presented on Wednesday November 2 the main lines of the future immigration law, expected to be debated in Parliament in early 2023. However, if they are not mentioned in the text , Gérald Darmanin, says he is open to discussing quotas with Les Républicains. The question is indeed absolutely not a taboo for the Minister of the Interior. He is prepared to incorporate them into the bill, for example, by means of an amendment.
But Thursday morning, the story was not really the same with Olivier Dussopt on franceinfo. The Minister of Labor appeared much more nuanced: “This method, which may seem attractive, is not really operational”he judged.
What are the occupations in tension? ➡️ “This list will be revised at the beginning of 2023”, announces the Minister of Labor. “This list is already used for migration issues.” “We have to look reality in the face”, for Olivier Dussopt. “It’s not about quotas.” pic.twitter.com/gDlWMsOAqL
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) November 3, 2022
In reality, the question of quotas is an old sea serpent in the debates on immigration which has always divided right and left. In 2019, Emmanuel Macron had raised the idea at the time of the Great Debate, before changing his mind. Last February, he felt that quotas would not be realistic. Matignon suggests today that Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne is not opposed “in principle” to this question and intends to let the parliamentary debate live.
But why is Gérald Darmanin so keen on this issue of quotas? Because it is launched in a form of political offensive. Wednesday in the newspaper The worldhe said he was ready to assume “firm measures”to prevent others from doing it in her place, implied, Marine Le Pen, if she is elected in 2027.
>> “His method is annoying”: Gérald Darmanin tenses some in the government
Accused by some in the ranks of the majority of taking a turn too far to the right, Gérald Darmanin knows that he will have to rally his former friends of the Republicans to his cause, if he wants to pass this immigration bill. . Moreover, he has already shown signs of openness to another text – the Interior Ministry’s programming law – where he accepted an amendment from Eric Ciotti to double the places in detention centers. The question of quotas is a totem carried by the right, it looks very much like a pledge, while the LRs fear waves of massive regularizations. “What a scandal!” annoys a Renaissance deputy, left wing tendency. Moreover, the examination of the text in Parliament will begin at the beginning of 2023 first in the Senate, held by the right, the ideal place to unravel a text, so far presented as the perfect synthesis of “at the same time”, if dear to Emmanuel Macron.