The meeting between deputies and senators responsible for finding an agreement on the immigration bill started Monday shortly after 5 p.m. in the National Assembly, but was immediately suspended due to last-minute tensions, according to several parliamentary sources. This joint committee was interrupted by a suspension of the session at the request of the general rapporteur of the text, parliamentary sources told AFP. According to MP Ludovic Mendès (Renaissance), the suspension is linked to a disagreement between the Les Républicains party and the presidential camp concerning the question of social benefits paid to foreigners.
It resumed at around 9:20 p.m., after four hours of suspension and a visit by majority leaders to Matignon, according to parliamentary sources.
LR wants to make them conditional on five years of presence in the territory, including personalized housing assistance (APL) which the majority for their part would like to see escape from these restrictions. “The APL for us was a red line,” said Ludovic Mendès. “They want to call into question the agreement, it is not negotiable,” said another Renaissance MP on condition of anonymity.
The main information:
- The Joint Commission, responsible for finding an agreement on the immigration law, meets this Monday evening
- The meeting was interrupted at the request of the Republicans. It should resume around 9 p.m.
- This suspension linked to a disagreement between LR and the majority over social benefits paid to foreigners
- After a four-hour suspension, the discussion resumed around 9:20 p.m. between deputies and senators.
Confusion reigns
PS senator Patrick Kanner strongly protested against this situation. “If the CMP cannot take place normally, let it be postponed. This is not acceptable (…). Parliament is not only made up of LR. If the majority and the right have not OK, let them postpone” to January, he told the press at the Assembly. For now, the CMP is still suspended until 9 p.m., at the request of the Republicans, a sign that the standoff is becoming tense between the two parties. A reigning confusion which calls into question a potential agreement.
The opposition is getting annoyed
On the left, as in the National Rally, we are annoyed by this situation. “There is a CMP (joint joint commission) in parallel, without the parliamentarians, it’s a scandal,” denounced RN deputy Yoann Gillet. “It’s really a crisis within the macronie. The debates on immigration are being held hostage,” said his colleague Edwige Diaz. This joint joint commission is “a masquerade of democracy”, castigated the leader of the LFI group Mathilde Panot. “We must acknowledge that there is no agreement and acknowledge the withdrawal of the text,” she asked, in unison with several left-wing elected officials.
Communist senator Ian Brossat criticized a commission which “lives to the rhythm of additional concessions” made to the LR. In the majority, one of the rapporteurs Philippe Pradal (Horizons MP) said he was “confident that this joint joint commission will succeed”. Elisabeth Borne invited the majority deputies in charge of the text to Matignon on Monday evening.