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POLITICS

France in ‘disarray’ as government is dissolved

France was plunged into deeper crisis on Monday when President Francois Hollande told his prime minister to form a new government after a very public rebellion by certain ministers including Arnaud Montebourg.

Published: 25 August 2014 18:31 CEST
France in 'disarray' as government is dissolved
When it rains it pours. Things go from bad to worse for beleagured French President François Hollande. Photo: Fred Tanneau/AFP
It is the second reshuffle in just five months as the Socialists struggle to pull stagnating France out of the economic doldrums and the party is riven by infighting between left-leaning members and those who veer more to the centre.
 
A presidency statement said Prime Minister Manuel Valls had tendered the resignation of his government and the new line-up would be announced on Tuesday.
 
"The head of state asked him (Valls) to form a team consistent with the direction he has himself set for the country," it said.
 
The move caught France by surprise and sparked concern that Hollande, whose popularity is at a record low at just 17 percent, will lose further support by alienating key members of his party that still wield influence.
 
"It's a very serious crisis. We've never had this kind of rebellion in the government before now," French politics professor Philippe Marliere told The Local. "It's clear there is a rupture in the party."
 
Economy Minister Arnaud Montebourg, whose comments over the weekend slamming the country's economic direction and France's ally Germany sparked the crisis, said he would not be in the new cabinet as did his ally Culture Minister Aurelie Filippetti.
 
Montebourg also announced that Education Minister Benoit Hamon, another member of the left-leaning clan of the party, would not take part in the new line-up.

'Take back my freedom' 

Echoing his weekend comments in stronger terms, the anti-globalisation advocate warned in a speech Monday that austerity measures were only prolonging and worsening a "serious, destructive and long" crisis in Europe.

"For two years, I fought tirelessly to convince, I wrote notes and letters to the head of the executive and made private and public declarations to attempt to convince and implore the president to refuse excessive measures for our country that risked damaging and sinking our economy," he said.

Acknowledging that he had failed to convince the president or prime minister, he said: "I believed it necessary to take back my freedom in the same way he (Valls) accepted to give it to me."

The 51-year-old left-wing minister is no stranger to controversy, having made headlines in the past for his outspoken criticism of Germany, which he has blamed for factory closures in France.

He was promoted to his current position in April in a government shake-up after the Socialist party suffered a drubbing at local elections, and has had to cosy up to Finance Minister Michel Sapin who supports the very austerity measures that he disagrees with.

As industrial renewal minister before his promotion, he had grabbed headlines by labelling the head of tyre giant Titan an "extremist" after the CEO criticised the French workforce as lazy.

He also became embroiled in a very public fight with steelmaker ArcelorMittal over the closure of a plant.

Socialist Party senator Richard Yung told The Local on Monday that Montebourg had "gone too far" this time.

"He crossed a line. You can say certain things but you can't give the impression you are outside the government, especially when you are the minister for the economy. People will look at this and think its balmy. And we don't understand it either."

Yung said the open criticism from ministers had caused "pandemonium" in the goverment.

Opposition figures reacted with shock to the unfolding events, pointing to a major crisis of confidence at the heart of the executive, with far-right leader Marine Le Pen even calling for the lower house National Assembly to be dissolved.

And former Prime Minister François Fillon said the dissolution of the government showed that Hollande's presidency was in "disarray". 

The crisis comes at a time when France is mired in stubbornly slow economic recovery, with high unemployment.

The central bank warned this month that Hollande had no hope of reaching his target of 1.0 percent growth for 2014.

The French economy has been stagnant for the past six months and the government was forced to halve its growth forecast to 0.5 percent for this year.

'Historically unpopular'
 
Both Hollande and Valls say the answer is their so-called Responsibility Pact that offers businesses tax breaks of some €40 billion ($55 billion) in exchange for a pledge by companies to create 500,000 jobs over three years.
 
Hollande plans to finance this with 50 billion euros in spending cuts, and the plan has angered those on the left of the party — including Montebourg
 
The prime minister himself, who veers more towards the centre, is also deeply unpopular with some Socialists.
 
Two Green ministers left the government when Valls was appointed in March after the Socialists' election humiliation.
 
But Frederic Dabi, deputy head of polling firm IFOP, said the impact of the crisis on public opinion should not be overestimated.
 
"We have a government and president that are historically unpopular, and what will make them popular or more unpopular isn't what happens in the government in terms of people but policies being implemented and a lack of results."

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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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