Between France and Algeria, the tone is rising and the 1968 agreement is increasingly criticized

DIPLOMACY – He sides with those who want to put an end to this text. In the midst of diplomatic war between France and Algeria, Gabriel Attal calls this Friday, January 10 “to denounce the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968”. In a column published by Le Figarothe former Prime Minister even sees it as a “first emergency” while the tone has risen in recent hours on the side of Paris.

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau denounced Algiers’ desire “to humiliate France” after the dismissal of an Algerian influencer who had been expelled from France. His colleague Jean-Noël Barrot (Foreign Affairs) said he was ready to “retaliate” and “the escalation continues” and that the release of Boualem Sansal still does not occur.

Among other measures available to the French government, there is this agreement signed in 1968 which is regularly denounced by part of the political class. During 2023, it was Édouard Philippe who requested this denunciation before the Republicans included it in their parliamentary niche in the Assembly; to the great dismay of Emmanuel Macron who was then seeking to normalize relations between the two countries.

On this occasion, HuffPost had published the video visible at the top of the article in which we explained the underside of this agreement signed a few years after the end of the Algerian war. It was precisely on December 27, 1968 that General de Gaulle and Abdelaziz Bouteflika (then minister of foreign affairs, then president in 1999) established this special status for Algerian nationals.

Attal denounces an “immigration network”?

It concerns movement, stay and employment in France because at that time, France needed labor in a context of strong economic growth. The entry of Algerians is facilitated since they can establish themselves freely to exercise a commercial activity or an independent profession. Also the time limit for obtaining a ten-year residence permit is shortened and family reunification is favored. On the other hand, Algerian students lose out, particularly when it comes to obtaining a student job.

Since 1968, the agreement has been modified three times, in 1985, 1994 and 2001. Mainly to align their exemption regime with that of the common law for foreigners which had become more advantageous over time.

But for 22 years, the text has remained frozen and it is seen today by many (especially on the right and the far right) as unsuitable. “It has today become an immigration channel in its own right, allowing family reunification and the settlement of people, without them even having to know our language or show their integrationdenounces for example Gabriel Attal. It makes it practically impossible to withdraw residence permits from Algerian nationals, even for reasons of public order. »

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