The National Rally wishes to “prevent” people with dual nationality from occupying “extremely sensitive jobs” the list of which will be defined “by decree”. Is this measure really applicable?
Prohibit access to so-called “sovereignty” professions to French people with dual nationality. In its plans if it came to power, the National Rally has brought this proposal back up to date. It targets the 3.3 million French people who hold dual nationality and could concern areas such as diplomacy, defense, the budget or even nuclear power.
The idea is not new. It was part of a constitutional bill tabled by Marine Le Pen last January that was presented during the 2022 presidential campaign in the section on “the protection of French nationality and the identity of France.”
“The organic law may prohibit access to jobs in administrations, public enterprises and legal entities entrusted with a public service mission to persons who have the nationality of another State.”
If his party wins the legislative elections (June 30 and July 7) and if he is named Prime Minister, the president of the RN intends to pass this measure through “an organic law and a decree”. Jordan Bardella assures that he does not “question dual nationality”, even if its suppression has long been part of the RN program.
This abandoned project reappears more subtly with this ban on access to certain functions, revealing the fear of a dual allegiance leading to the risk of a lack of loyalty towards the State of which they are also a national. This was also the subject of a question asked in 1989 to Lionel Stoleru by Jean-Marie Le Pen during a TV show.
“Do you have dual nationality?”, the president of the National Front asked the Secretary of State for Planning, particularly targeting a possible Israeli nationality, according to him.
“Risks of interference”
Which professions would be affected by the measurement of the RN? No list has been revealed. According to Jordan Bardella, “very very few people” would be affected, he said during his press conference on June 24. Which ones? He does not say it.
During the June 25 televised debate on TF1 pitting him against Gabriel Attal and Manuel Bompard, Jordan Bardella took the position of director of a nuclear power plant as an example: “”You would put a Franco-Russian at the head of a power plant nuclear? Does this not pose a subject of national interest to you?”, he told the current Prime Minister to justify his measure.
On BFMTV, Roger Chudeau, outgoing RN deputy for Loir-et-Cher, gives some ideas.
“I think that these are ministerial jobs and then probably jobs which are defined in the Constitution as being at the disposal of the government, that is to say ambassador, prefect, general, inspector general…” , says Roger Chudeau.
“Everything that concerns national sovereignty can only be exercised by French citizens, that seems basic,” adds the outgoing MP.
Indeed, this is what the law says, specifying that a “binational or plurinational Frenchman” is no less French than another.
“He has all the rights and obligations attached to French nationality. This rule applies in the same way to a French person who has acquired another nationality or to a foreigner who has become French,” we can read on the Service Public website.
“Totally unconstitutional”
Moreover, as constitutional expert Anne-Charlène Bezzina reminds us on BFM Business, French law – and even European law – has already provided for this situation.
“All our so-called sovereignty jobs, and the Court of Justice of the European Union agrees, are reserved for the French. Even a national of other countries of the European Union cannot access these jobs because they are reserved for the French for strategic reasons”, specifies Anne-Charlène Bezzina.
She recalls the recruitment process for these positions. Candidates must go through investigations of personal and professional conflicts of interest, recalls Anne-Charlène Bezzina, also pointing out the links there are with the States on which binationality is based.
“The risk of foreign interference is therefore quite limited [voire] impossible”, estimates the constitutionalist who considers that the RN’s proposal is “totally unconstitutional”.
A Franco-Russian RN in the European Parliament
This risk is precisely the RN’s argument, explains Sébastien Chenu, RN deputy and spokesperson for the movement.
“Today, can we imagine a Franco-Russian working in the Ministry of the Armed Forces?” Jordan Bardella even justified.
This example was raised by Gabriel Attal during the legislative debate on TF1 on June 25. The Prime Minister pointed out a contradiction by citing the case of Tamara Volokhova. “Can you tell the French who are watching us who Ms. Tamara Volokhova is?” Gabriel Attal asked the president of the National Rally.
“She is your advisor to the ID (Identity and Democracy) group in the European Parliament, who represents you in the Foreign Affairs Committee on security and defense issues,” he indicated without waiting for a response.
“It turns out that she is Franco-Russian, that she attends closed meetings with confidential information on the war in Ukraine,” said Gabriel Attal.
Roger Chudeau did not mention this case on BFMTV, but assures that for him, it is “a symbolic question”. “You have to know how to choose. We’re not in the supermarket here. When you serve the State at the highest level, you have to be a French citizen, that’s the bare minimum,” asserts the MP for Loir-et- Dear.
Dual nationals of the DGSE
The fact remains that people who have nationalities other than French nationality are French like any other. And like all candidates for so-called sensitive positions, whether in ministries (Armed Forces or Foreign Affairs) or administrations such as the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA), in-depth administrative investigations are carried out.
“You can have one, two or three other nationalities, it’s none of French law’s business,” Gwénaële Calvès, professor of public law at Cergy Paris University, confirmed to AFP.
We asked various defence-related services if they knew how many dual nationals they employ and if they were prohibited from holding certain positions. None of them answered us, so as not to take part in a political issue that comes in the middle of an election period. On the DGSE (Directorate General of External Services) recruitment web page, the answer is clear.
To apply for the DGSE, you must have French nationality, but “you can however have dual nationality as long as you have French nationality”.
Again, every candidate is investigated, even for administrative or general service positions. As for those commonly called spies, dual nationals can become, depending on crises or geopolitical situations, prime recruits.
Moreover, the announcement of wanting to prohibit access to certain sensitive positions caused Olivier Mas, ex-DGSE agent and former special forces officer, to react. Retired from these functions, he now hosts the YouTube channel “Talks with a Spy”. On
“In the early 2000s, (…) the DGSE decided to recruit French people of Maghreb origin on a significant scale (…) to help infiltrate terrorist groups. This measure was very effective,” recalls Olivier Mas.
Career in the military?
In fact, access to civil service positions is not only authorized to dual nationals, but also to nationals of EU member countries who can take competitive examinations and become civil servants.
Non-Europeans can also be recruited into the civil service, but only as contract workers. In defense, nothing prevents a dual national from pursuing a career in the army, nor from becoming a reservist. On X, Alexis Karklins-Marchay, Franco-American and officer of the National Navy, speaks out against this RN proposal.
“To read that certain positions, certain jobs (including those of diplomats or ministers) would be closed to me because of this is an insult from rancid nationalists with small feet.”
Will jobs in major defense or nuclear industries be affected? As the AFP points out, the decision to classify a position among sovereign jobs is left to the discretion not only of the government, but also of the employer. The conditions of access to these sensitive companies are already strict. In the midst of a recruitment crisis, these companies would face additional difficulty in attracting talent for key positions.
In short, there are currently no restrictions for dual nationals, according to labor law experts interviewed by AFP. This is “by virtue of the principle of prohibiting any discrimination in hiring set out in Article L1132-1 of the Labor Code,” explains Eric Rocheblave, a lawyer specializing in labor law. But, he says, “what yesterday’s legislator did, tomorrow’s can undo or restrict.”
