The French National Assembly narrowly approved a resolution
denouncing the 1968 migration agreement with Algeria, reigniting political
tensions.
According to the French news network BFMTV, the far-right National Rally (RN) put out the non-binding motion, which was approved by 185 votes to 184 during the party's allocated parliamentary time. This was Marine Le Pen's party's first legislative triumph.
The resolution, which was adopted almost 60 years after the original agreement, asks for the termination of what RN MPs referred to as a "special immigration regime" that gives Algerian nationals privileged privileges in France with regard to work, housing, and social benefits.
The text's introduction, made by RN deputy Guillaume Bigot, condemned the agreement as "an extremely exceptional regime."
“Imagine a contract where you owe everything and your partner owes you nothing, yet you continue to respect it,”
Bigot said during the debate.
MPs from Horizons, the party of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, and center-right Les Republicains (LR), who both support terminating the convention, suddenly backed the measure.
Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal had preliminarily pronounced support for the 1968 accord's modification, citing" ceaseless provocations" from Algiers, but President Emmanuel Macron and his central press have opposed efforts to end it.
Following France's recent expatriation of multiple Algerian diplomats and dissensions over visa regulations, the vote takes place at a time when Franco-Algerian relations are formerly high.
Conservatives have long opposed the 1968 pact, which was first created to ease labor movement after independence, as being out of date.
Only 33 of the 92 Renaissance MPs were present for the vote, and left-wing parties denounced the RN motion, accusing Macron's alliance of supporting the far right by failing to organize their members.
“Where were the Macron supporters? Gabriel Attal was absent!”
Socialist leader Olivier Faure wrote on US social media company X.
Left MPs also warned that the RN resolution offers no alternative legal framework, risking a legal vacuum that could complicate bilateral migration management.
What immediate legal steps can France take to terminate the 1968 accord?
France faces legal and political complications in
terminating the 1968 migration agreement with Algeria. Fairly, the agreement
doesn't contain a specific termination clause, which means France can't simply
denounce or end the convention unilaterally without risking difficulties.
The 1968 pact includes a common Franco-Algerian commission assigned with covering its perpetration and resolving difficulties. Any move to terminate would immaculately bear accommodations and agreement from Algerian authorities through this commission to avoid political fallout.
Because the convention is embedded in the Evian Accords that ended the Algerian War, the agreement is seen as a durability of long-standing bilateral relations. Unilateral condemnation could lead to legal query, returning to thepre-1968 status which inferred free movement between the countries, potentially complicating migration control.