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The presence of several representatives of a so-called “hard” right could tip the scales in favor of the version adopted in the Senate in November.
They must decide on the future of the immigration bill, rejected in the National Assembly on Monday. After Emmanuel Macron’s choice to send the text to a joint joint committee (CMP), seven deputies and seven senators, accompanied by substitutes, will meet from Monday, December 18, to try to reach a compromise on the thorny reform presented by the government.
The composition of the CMP reflects the political balances in place in the National Assembly and the Senate. Thus, around the negotiating table will be four deputies from the presidential camp, one from the Republicans, a deputy from the National Rally and one from La France insoumise. On the Senate side, three LRs, two socialists, a centrist and a macronist will be present.
The right intends to defend the Senate text
The main lesson from this list of 14 parliamentarians, unveiled on Wednesday December 13, is that there is no shortage of those who take a firm line. The Republicans chose the deputy Annie Genevard and the senators Bruno Retailleau, Muriel Jourda and François-Noël Buffet. All four defend the version voted in the Senate, much harsher than the copy then adopted by the law committee of the National Assembly at the beginning of December. It includes in particular the abolition of State medical aid (AME) and the reinstatement of an offense of illegal residence.
In view of the CMP, these four parliamentarians are displaying their ambitions. “We will not abandon the architecture of the bill“ adopted at the Luxembourg Palace, hammered on Public Senate, Thursday, Muriel Jourda. The rapporteur of the bill considers that article 4 bis on professions in shortage is “intangible”. Introduced by the Senate, it is much more restrictive in terms of the regularization of workers than article 3 of the initial text. Muriel Jourda had defended this amendment with Philippe Bonnecarrère. However, the senator from the centrist Union, within the senatorial majority, is also present in this CMP.
At their side, these parliamentarians will find Yoann Gillet, deputy of the National Rally. The latter wishes to go even further, in particular by abandoning article 4 bis of the senators on professions in shortage. Could he, however, support certain measures in CMP? “If the text goes in the right direction and toughens the rules, why nothe replied on Tuesday on Franceinfo. For us, there are several red lines: we do not want new immigration channels, such as the regularization of people who do not respect the law of the Republic, in this case illegal workers.”
The RN parliamentarian regretted the absence in the text voted on in the Laws Committee of the National Assembly of the right of irregular residence and the transformation of state medical aid into emergency medical aid. However, these two elements are present in the Senate text, which will serve as a basis for the work of the CMP.
The left wing of the presidential camp represented
In the presidential camp, the five parliamentarians (four in the Assembly and one in the Senate) are not exactly on the same line. On the one hand, there are those who defend the initial balance of the text, between firmness and regularization through work. This is the case of deputies Sacha Houlié (Renaissance) and Elodie Jacquier-Laforge (MoDem), for example. The two parliamentarians defended the regularization of undocumented workers in professions in shortage. “To say that it’s their text or nothing, that would be dangerous for the joint committee”warned Sacha Houlié on Thursday on France 2, addressing the Republicans.
On the other side, Olivier Bitz represents the Rally of Democrats, Progressives and Independents, the senatorial version of Renaissance. A large part of this group (18 votes for, two abstentions and two against) voted in favor of the toughened text. Another member of the CMP, the deputy Marie Guévenoux, formerly close to Alain Juppé, has defended on several occasions on social networks the idea of a “project of firmness, efficiency and justice”. “All sensitivities [de la majorité] are represented in the CMP with Sacha Houlié, from the left wing and Marie Guévenoux, from the right wing.summarizes a Renaissance deputy. Without forgetting Florent Boudié, in the position of general rapporteur, “more malleable than Sacha Houlié” and ready to compromise, according to another parliamentarian from the presidential party.
“For the National Assembly, it is balanced, it represents the entire macronie.”
A Renaissance MPat franceinfo
On the left, socialist senators Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie and Corinne Narassiguin, and La France insoumise MP Andrée Taurinya, are opposed to the text, but to varying degrees. Thus, if Marie-Pierre de La Gontrie had signed the tribune of Releasesupporting the regularization aspect of the initial text, Andrée Taurinya pointed out on France Bleu the fact that“we [allait] distribute residence permits for a single year with different lists from one department to another. But a foreigner who comes to Saint-Étienne because there is a need for catering staff may have to leave after a year if his job is no longer considered in tension“. In any case, due to the arithmetic specific to the CMP, their three votes, even when granted, will have difficulty influencing the debates.