Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and sixteen members of the government take off on Sunday October 9 for Algeria at the end of the morning. It will of course be a question of signing many economic contracts, in particular within the framework of the ecological transition, but also within the framework of partnerships for youth and as well as in education. Another objective, a year and a half after Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Algiers: to seal the reconciliation between France and Algeria, in particular through strong symbols. As, in the first place, the unprecedented size of the delegation of 16 ministers, which represents more than a third of the government. Never seen.
Before Elisabeth Borne, Jean Castex should have gone to Algiers in April 2021, but the visit had been canceled almost at the last minute: one of the reasons given by Algiers was that its delegation was not large enough. This time, the executive corrects the situation.
Matignon speaks of a “new impetus” given to this relationship that Paris wishes to turn towards the future. The visit is therefore structured around two axes. First the youth, with the presence of the Minister of National Education Pap Ndiaye and the Minister of Higher Education Sylvie Retailleau, who will be on the trip. Second axis: economic cooperation in the pharmaceutical field, with investment projects by Sanofi, which is also flying to Algiers. Bilateral agreements should also be signed on Sunday in the field of energy transition, even if, on energy, the government is careful to specify that gas is not on the agenda for this trip.
On the program, on the other hand, a business forum, in which some forty French companies will participate, in the presence of Elisabeth Borne. The imperative for Paris is to renew ties that have been a little stretched since the health crisis and the fall of Abdelaziz Bouteflika and the networks linked to him. China and the Gulf countries have since taken the opportunity to get closer to Algiers, but Paris wants to demonstrate that it intends to regain its market share.
And there is also the delicate question of visas, the distribution of which Paris has restricted in the three Maghreb countries, with an ultimatum on the table: either these countries, and therefore Algeria, agree to issue consular passes and recover their nationals who arrived illegally in France, or France restricts the number of visas granted each year.
At the height of the crisis, this visa quota was halved, with mixed results. There is something for the better, according to the French executive, but the discussions have not completely succeeded either, Algiers arguing for its part that the files presented to it do not all concern Algerian nationals, an argument also used by its two Moroccan and Tunisian neighbours. At the end of August, Emmanuel Macron had tried another approach, more incentive, by relaxing the visa regime for students, entrepreneurs, scientists and athletes, artists.
But, here again, Algiers must cooperate more in the fight against illegal immigration. This is the file that will be discussed, in particular by Gérald Darmanin, Minister of the Interior, who is also flying to Algiers shortly with Elisabeth Borne.