A Franco-Algerian text facilitates the installation of Algerian nationals and has aroused the anger of part of the political spectrum for several years. Emmanuel Macron has until now always closed the door to the end of this treaty, despite strong tensions with Algeria.
Haro on the agreement between France and Algeria. Jordan Bardella, Édouard Philippe, Éric Ciotti… The right and the far right are seizing on the fiasco of the failed expulsion of an Algerian influencer to demand the end of this treaty signed between Paris and Algiers in 1968.
“We have been subject to the Algerian regime for more than 50 years,” judged RN deputy Jean-Philippe Tanguy this Friday morning on BFMTV, calling for “an end very quickly” to this text.
Measures that facilitate the granting of residence permits
This agreement, which came into being six years after the independence of this former French colony, created a unique status for Algerian nationals in terms of movement, residence and employment.
It originally aimed to facilitate economic immigration to meet the strong need for labor in France at the start of the Thirty Glorious Years.
Concretely, it now contains measures which make the arrival and issuance of residence permits to Algerian nationals more flexible. For example, they do not need to apply for a visa for a stay of more than three months, unlike other foreigners, but must instead request a certificate of residence, a process that is easier to access.
646,462 residence permits granted in 2023 to Algerian nationals
Family reunification – this system which allows a foreign national in a legal situation to be able to bring his family (spouse and minor children) – is also possible from 12 months of presence in France instead of 18 months for foreign nationals.
These specific provisions are reflected in the figures of the Ministry of the Interior. According to a report from the general directorate of foreigners in France, 646,462 residence permits to Algerian nationals were granted in 2022, far ahead of other countries. 603,482 Moroccans received a residence permit in 2022 and 289,942 for Tunisians.
This agreement is, however, more restrictive than the general regime for foreigners on certain points. Student visas are more restricted, for example. As for the provisions linked to expulsions such as the issuance of OQTF (obligation to leave French territory), they come under common law and are the same.
Macron annoyed by demands to end this agreement
These agreements have already been modified three times, gradually gutted with very symbolic measures. The stated objective: to try to bring the status of Algerians closer to common law for foreigners.
Can France decide to end these agreements between France and Algeria as demanded by the RN and the right? For the moment, Emmanuel Macron has always closed the door to this hypothesis.
-The head of state made his annoyance known in November 2023 when Édouard Philippe called for the end of this agreement a few weeks earlier. The former Prime Minister actually supported a right-wing draft resolution to put an end to this treaty.
“I did not understand that France’s foreign policy was defined in Parliament,” the head of state quipped before the Council of Ministers.
The government in favor of renegotiation
This is because any questioning of this agreement must necessarily have the approval of the Élysée. Diplomacy is also the “reserved domain” of the head of state in political habits and customs. However, nothing prevents Parliament from trying to put pressure on Emmanuel Macron to try to change his position.
In December 2023, during the full examination of the immigration bill in the National Assembly, the government affirmed, through the voice of Élisabeth Borne, that it was open to a renegotiation of the agreement but not to the end of its agreement.
It must be said that its denunciation could have a counterproductive effect, particularly from a migration point of view, while the countries had been moving closer together since 2022, after years of strong tensions.
Strong economic ties between Algeria and France
If the agreement between Paris and Algiers disappears, the Algerian government could be tempted to take retaliatory measures. Algeria could, for example, considerably reduce the number of consular passes, this document issued by the person’s country of origin under a OQTF (obligation to leave French territory) and without which France cannot expel him.
The measure would have a bad effect, to say the least, on Bruno Retailleau who has made this issue his hobby horse. If Emmanuel Macron did not hesitate to raise his voice against Algeria last Monday in front of the ambassadors gathered at the Élysée, notably concerning the arrest of the Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, he careful not to mention the agreement between Paris and Algiers.
Should we see economic reasons? Despite strong turbulence between the two countries after a clear warming of relations in recent years, trade between the two countries is doing very well.
In 2023, trade between France has increased significantly, particularly on the gas and oil front. In 2023, Algerian hydrocarbon exports increased by 15% against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the desire to reduce French dependence on Russian gas. It remains to be seen whether this commercial relationship will not be disrupted by recent diplomatic tensions.
