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POLITICS

Covid fourth wave: What can we expect from Macron’s Monday TV appearance?

Over the 18 months of the pandemic, announcements that president Emmanuel Macron intends to address France live on TV have come to be viewed with dread and the expectation of extra health restrictions - but with Covid cases still relatively low, what can we expect from Monday night's speech?

Published: 12 July 2021 09:22 CEST
Covid fourth wave: What can we expect from Macron's Monday TV appearance?
President Emmanuel Macron. Photo: Bertrand Guay/AFP

Covid cases in France remain the lowest they have been in a year, but after weeks of falling, case numbers are now beginning to rise again.

Although the rise is as yet relatively small, there are fears over the faster-spreading and more transmissible delta variant of the virus, which over the weekend became the dominant strain in France and which has driven a huge increase in case numbers in the UK, as well as parts of Spain and Portugal.

Health experts now accept that a fourth wave, once predicted for the autumn, has already begun in France and an extra meeting of the Defence Council has been called for Monday morning.

It is against this context that the president’s Elysée Palace has announced that Macron will address the nation at 8pm on Monday. So what can we expect?

Lockdown

Previous TV appearances from the president have heralded a return to lockdown, but this seems very unlikely this time. Notwithstanding the concerns about the delta variant, case numbers remain low with a weekly average of 5,000 cases a day – previous lockdowns were imposed only when cases reached around 50,000 a day.

Hospitalisations remain low and the hope is that with a significant portion of the population vaccinated they will stay that way.

Data from the UK – which has been recording more than 35,000 cases a day but where a higher percentage of the population is vaccinated – shows an increase in hospitalisations for Covid, but a much lower increase than in previous waves of the virus.

Travel restrictions

France has a traffic light system in place which gives greater travel freedoms to fully vaccinated travellers. But with several of its neighbours, including the UK and Spain, recording worrying spikes in cases, it’s possible that tougher travel restrictions could be reimposed in an attempt to slow the spread of the delta variant.

READ ALSO How does France’s traffic light travel system work?

Europe minister Clément Beaune, speaking last week, advised the French to ‘avoid Portugal and Spain’ for holidays this summer.

Health passport extension

The French pass sanitaire (health passport) is already up and running and is used for access to larger events like concerts and sports matches, but the government is now said to be considering extending this to venues like cinemas, bars and cafés.

The health passport, available on the Tous Anti Covid app, can show proof that a person is either fully vaccinated, has recently recovered from Covid or has tested negative in the past 72 hours.

READ ALSO Where and when you need a health passport in France 

It was launched with a declaration that it would not be used for ‘everyday activities’ like going to the gym or a café, but faced with the possibility of a fourth wave, the government is now considering whether extending the health passport would be a way to avoid further closures or lockdown restrictions.

Mask rules

It’s been just a month since the mask rules in France were relaxed, making mask-wearing no longer compulsory in outdoor public spaces like the streets, although they remain the rule in all indoor public spaces.

READ ALSO Where do you still need to wear a mask?

However fears over the delta variant have lead some local authorities, including in the town of Nice, to reimpose mask-wearing in the street. It’s possible the president could bring the rule back on a nationwide basis, as another option to slow the spread of the virus while avoiding having to close down businesses again.

Compulsory vaccination

Another tricky question that the government has been wrestling with is making the Covid vaccine compulsory for certain groups.

A sensitive subject in a nation with a high level of vaccine scepticism, the idea of making the vaccine compulsory for healthcare workers has nevertheless been backed by various medical groups, while polls show that a majority of people are in favour of the idea.

The vaccine has been available for health workers since February, yet vaccination rates in healthworkers are lower than in the same age groups of the general population, with just 60 percent of healthcare assistants and carers in nursing homes fully vaccinated. 

French medical regulator Haute Autorité de la Santé over the weekend published an opinion that the vaccine should be made compulsory for all over 12s, but the final decision is the government’s.

Vaccine plea

Whatever the announcement on compulsory vaccination, it’s likely that the president will echo previous statements by ministers in urging people – particularly young people – to get vaccinated.

The health ministry has unveiled a package of measures aimed at making getting the vaccine easier, from walk-in vaccine centres to allowing people to get second dose appointments while on holiday, but the rate of first dose appointments has fallen in recent weeks as the French head off on holiday.

Of particular concern is the 20-29 age group, which is seeing a large rise in cases.

There has also been discussion of other measures intended to encourage people to get vaccinated, such as making ‘convenience Covid tests’ such as pre-travel tests free only for the fully vaccinated.

Other stuff

Elysée sources have told French media that the president will not only be speaking about the pandemic in this speech, but will be focusing on other topics, possibly laying out the framework of reforms he wants to make in the final months of his presidential term before elections in April 2022.

He is also expected to make an announcement on contentious pension reforms.

The Local will be following Macron’s announcement live, from 8pm, here.

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POLITICS

What does the new government mean for foreigners in France?

France at last has a new government and one of its four main aims is to "control immigration and promote integration" - so what is this likely to mean for foreigners in France, or those hoping to move here some day?

Published: 20 September 2024 10:36 CEST
What does the new government mean for foreigners in France?

After two weeks of intense negotiation, on Thursday evening newly-appointed prime minister Michel Barnier announced that he had succeeded in forming a government.

 He also laid out his four main priorities;

  • Improve the standard of living for the French and the workings of public services, especially schools and healthcare
  • Guarantee security, control immigration and improve integration
  • Encourage businesses and agriculture and build upon the economic attractiveness of France
  • Get public finances under control and reduce debt

He is set to give his Discours de politique générale on October 1st – this is the traditional speech that a prime minister makes laying out the main policy aims of their government.

So what is this likely to mean for foreigners living in France?

Obviously some of these things will have the same effect on foreigners as any other residents of France, since we all use the same healthcare and education systems.

The first challenge for the new government will be a budget that, as Barnier says, “gets public finances under control”. France is facing a ballooning deficit and the threat of a downgrade from ratings agencies if it cannot get spending under control.

Barnier said earlier in the week that he is “discovering that the country’s budgetary situation is very serious” – most people interpreted this as preparing to announce tax hikes.

No details of these plans have been released, but it is thought likely that extra taxes will be on business and the super-rich rather than any increase in income tax or VAT.

Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance group briefed the press that one of their conditions for joining the new government was a pledge that any tax increases would not target “the middle classes or working French people”.

Immigration

But the strand of government that is most likely to affect foreigners in France, or those hoping to move here some day, is the pledge to “control immigration and promote integration”.

Again there is no detail on this, but the French government’s most recent bill to “promote integration” introduced language tests for certain types of residency card, while raising the language standard required for other processes.

We know that Barnier himself is strongly to the right on the topic of immigration – in his unsuccessful 2022 bid for the Les Républicains presidential nomination he called for a total moratorium on all immigration into France from non-EU countries.

Barnier said he would organise a referendum if elected, asking voters to approve constitutional changes and the ability of parliament to set immigrant quotas each year.

The exact composition of the new government has not been revealed – it is expected “before Sunday” – but we do know that Barnier has appointed several ministers from within the Les Républicains party.

These are reported to include Bruno Retailleau, who sparked outcry with his comments about immigrants in the context of the 2022 riots.

Speaking about the rioters who were arrested, 90 percent of whom were French citizens, he said: “OK, they’re French, but these are French people in their official identity, and unfortunately for the second and third generations (of immigrants), there is a sort of regression towards their ethnic roots.”

Clearly for some politicians, you can never be integrated enough.

New laws?

Although it’s far too early to think of any specific policies – and the government may not last long enough to actually see any laws passed – the debate around France’s recent immigration bill does provide some clues about the goals of right-wing politicians.

The Immigration law that finally passed in January changed – among other things – conditions for certain types of residency card and introduced expanded language tests, a civics test and a declaration of allegiance to ‘French values’ for foreigners living here.

READ ALSO What changes under France’s new immigration bill

However as the bill progressed through parliament, many right-wing lawmakers attempted to add amendments to toughen it up. In the end, most of the amendments were either voted down in parliament or struck out later by the Constitutional Council, but they do provide a guide to right-wing goals.

Among the rejected amendments were;

Migration quotas – the original bill contained nothing about migration quotas, but a section on this was added in the Senate (which is controlled by Les Républicains). The amendment was vague, setting out only the principle that parliament can set migration quotas – the wording of the text talked about ‘economic migration’, suggesting that these quotas would apply only to people coming to France to work, not students or retirees. The quotas would not affect asylum seekers or people arriving on a family reunification visa.

It called for parliament to have an annual debate on migration, with the ‘objective’ of setting quotas or numbers.

This was one of many amendments that was eventually struck out by the Constitutional Council – although on procedural grounds, not because of its content.

Healthcare restrictions – currently undocumented foreigners who are in France for more than three months are entitled to basic healthcare under the Aide medicale de l’Etat, with costs reimbursed by the State for hospital treatment and medication. The amendment proposed a complete ban on this for anyone who is undocumented or in an irregular immigration situation.

Benefit restrictions – currently foreigners in France can qualify for benefits such as housing allowance or certain family benefits after they have been resident for six months, the amendment aimed to increase the qualification period to five years.

Expelling radicalised foreigners – the law that was eventually passed makes it easier to expel radicalised foreigners by removing certain protections, including the restriction that people who came to France aged 13 or under cannot be expelled once they reach adulthood. The amendment aimed toughen this up still further by allowing the expulsion not just of people who are on terror watchlists, but of people who have “committed a grave and deliberate violation of the principles of the French Republic”.

Toughen asylum rules – various amendments aimed to make it easier to expel failed asylum seekers by reducing the amount of time for appeals and allowing a notice to quit the country to be served as soon as a first application is rejected.

Limit family reunification rights – rules around foreigners in France being joined by spouses or family members would also be tightened up under the amendment, with a minimum stay of 24 months before you can be joined by a spouse or family member, and extra financial requirements.

French citizenship for children born in France – currently children who are born in France to foreign parents are automatically given the right to French citizenship once they reach 18 under the droit du sol principle (although in order to do anything practical like get a passport or ID card they still need to apply for a naturalisation certificate). Several amendments proposed that this no longer be an automatic right and children must “express their will” to get citizenship – presumably through an extra admin procedures.

All the immigration measures listed above would apply to non-EU nationals – anyone who needs a visa or carte de séjour to spend more than three months in France.

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