Far-right leader Bardella unveils immigration program ahead of snap elections

The President of the Rassemblement National (RN) party, Jordan Bardella, confirmed Monday (June 24) that he intended to abolish France’s ‘droit du sol,’ the birthright to citizenship, and would restrict the Schengen area to EU citizens only after the snap elections.

On Monday (24 July), just days before the first round of legislative elections, Bardella unveiled the RN’s program in Paris, laying down what he would implement if he came to power. Unsurprisingly, he describes migration as the “third major emergency” after purchasing power and security, ranks high on the agenda.

In particular, Bardella calls for better “control of immigration” and abolishing the ‘birthright’ or, in French ‘droit du sol’.

“The automatic acquisition of French nationality is no longer justified in a world of eight billion people, at a time when the daily evidence of our inability to integrate and assimilate is multiplying on our soil,” he said.

The droit du sol law allowed any child born in France from foreign parents to obtain French nationality at the age of 18 automatically, provided they had lived in France for at least five years since they were 11 or the majority of their life.

But the migration bill, passed in January 2024, tightened up the conditions governing the right to French nationality, abolishing its automatic nature. A child born in France to foreign parents must now initiate a procedure between 16 and 18 to apply for French nationality.

The “emergency law” he wishes to present in the summer should abolish this right and create a fund to replace state medical aid (AME) with an Emergency Vital Aid (AUV).

‘France has rejected us, so we’re rejecting it too’

From a legal point of view, abolishing the birthright to citizenship could prove complex, Smaïn Laacher, director of the Observatory of Migration and Asylum at the Fondation Jean Jaurès in Paris, told Euractiv.

The emergency law would have to go before the national Constitutional Council, “which would be no mean feat,” said Laacher and in the event of a “cohabitation”,  a Bardella prime minister and Emmanuel Macron president, Macron would still have “his say”.

“I fear the worst for immigrants,” he added. “Abolishing the droit du sol will radically alter the place of immigration in French society and French society’s relationship with immigration.”

Bardella wants people born in France to foreign parents to be allowed to apply for French nationality only when they turn 18, even though they have lived in France since birth.

“This will give rise to a series of discrimination and problems in terms of attachment to the French nation, and therefore to French nationality,” warned Laacher. “Many people might tell themselves, ‘France has rejected us, so we’re rejecting it too’.”

According to Laacher, it’s simply unthinkable to imagine that the issue of immigration to France can be resolved by abolishing the droit du sol.

Restricting Schengen to EU citizens only

Bardella has also indicated that he wanted to deny dual nationality to people, including those with strategic government positions such as diplomats,  to be able to deport foreign criminals and re-establish the offence of illegal residence.

“These measures are dangerous for foreigners in France,” said Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, president of the NGO France Terre d’Asile, who is worried about the rise of the far right in the country.

“Unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers are already the object of suspicion in principle, and illegal immigrants are considered criminals or delinquents,” she said in an interview with Euractiv.

Regarding the EU, Bardella discussed his idea of a ‘double border’, which would mean introducing controls at France’s and the EU’s borders.

RN said they wanted to “open negotiations with [its] European partners to preserve Schengen free circulation for European nationals only.”

This measure would counter the EU’s Asylum and Migration Pact adopted in Brussels on 14 May, which the RN  members of the European Parliament (MEP) voted against.

In early June, they announced that it would appeal against the pact, because the EU was overstepping its competences.

In its legal case, the RN is using Article 88-6 of the French Constitution, which requires the government to refer the matter to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) if it obtains the signatures of 60 deputies in the National Assembly.

Contacted by Euractiv, the CJEU stated that no case relating to this appeal has yet been lodged.

(Edited by Laurent Geslin/Rajnish Singh/Alice Taylor)

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