France shifts right on migration under new prime minister

Michel Barnier, the new French head of government, is still in the process of selecting his ministers. But he has already outlined what he wants to change in France, with irregular migration at the top of his list of priorities.

"You get the impression that the borders are as porous as a sieve, and that migration flows are not under control. We are going to change that," Barnier said last week during his first TV interview since taking office.

The implementation of a stricter migration and asylum policy might stay in the hands of the Interior Ministry. According to French media reports, Barnier is also planning a dedicated Immigration Ministry.

Such a ministry would also signal that Barnier, from the conservative Republican party, is taking his cue from the presidency of fellow party member Nicolas Sarkozy, who led France from 2007 to 2012 — at least when it comes to migration.

In 2005, when Sarkozy was the interior minister, he made international headlines during a visit to Paris' minority housing estates with his comment that "we will clean the estate with Kärcher [high pressure hose]." Upon being elected president in 2007, he created an Immigration Ministry as part of his stricter migration policy.

Sarkozy's hard-line immigration policy temporarily succeeded in stopping the rise of the extreme right-wing National Front.

Barnier's government dependent on far right

Today, the former National Front, now renamed the National Rally (RN) and headed by Marine Le Pen, has made a comeback. It was the strongest French party in the recent European elections, winning 31.4% of the vote. The party also won a number of additional seats in the French parliamentary elections held in June and July.

The alliance of centrist President Emmanuel Macron, on the other hand, collapsed.

"Michel Barnier is dependent on the votes of the RN in parliament if his government is to survive," Jacob Ross, France expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations, told DW.

When the new prime minister was announced last week, parties on both the left and the right criticized the decision, as Barnier's party had only come fourth in the elections. But the RN said it wouldn't automatically vote down Banier's appointment, but instead wait and see what sort of program he laid out, a stance experts have linked to the RN hoping for a tightened asylum and migration policy.

"In the past, Barnier has repeatedly emphasized that he sees Brexit as a response to the loss of control of national politics," Ross said of the prime minister, who was formerly the EU's chief Brexit negotiator.

"Barnier fears if there are no fundamental changes to the European migration policy, this will jeopardize the entire European project in the long term," he added.

Why Barnier is pushing stricter migration policy

To counter such a development, Barnier believes that a stricter migration policy is needed. The new prime minister has not yet announced any details, but his 2021 election campaign for presidency of the Republicans could be an indication of what can be expected of him.

At the time, the former foreign minister supported accelerated asylum procedures, called for restrictions on family reunification and mused about temporarily stopping the admission of asylum-seekers, possibly for several years.

Not even constitutional amendments seemed to be a taboo in order to override EU law in cases of doubt. These measures were intended to restore national sovereignty in migration policy and promote the integration of migrants. His campaign, however, did not win over the party.

And yet, while the National Rally's votes in parliament for any tightening of migration laws are likely to be secured, otherwise Barnier and Le Pen are politically worlds apart.

Barnier is seen as a centrist who would neither fundamentally question the European integration project nor EU institutions. However, although Le Pen is no longer pushing to pull France out of the EU as in the past, she still aims to radically change relations with Brussels.

What does this mean for Emmanuel Macron?

So far, Barnier can only rely on the less than 50 members of his party as well as the presidential alliance in the country's National Assembly. The two camps had already agreed on a tighter migration policy in 2023, despite the opposition role of Barnier's Republicans.

However, this caused tensions in the Macron camp at the time, which had initially attracted many left-wing politicians.

Among other issues, last year's reform introduced yearslong waiting periods for social benefits for certain non-EU migrants.

Numerous measures were subsequently rejected by France's Constitutional Council, in cases because the court found individual paragraphs to be in breach of the constitution, in others because of procedural errors. For example, the judges overturned the rule that the National Assembly is allowed to set an upper limit for the admission of migrants, citing a violation of the separation of powers.

In the coming months, Barnier's negotiating skills will be in demand, not least on the European stage. He knows the rules of the game in Brussels very well. The so-called Dublin Regulation and the Schengen Borders Code set high barriers for longer-term border controls and pushback at borders.

Accordingly, border controls at internal borders in the Schengen area may only be a temporary exception.

However, the number of EU states that have opted for national solo efforts when it comes to migration policy has increased in recent years.

Germany also tightens border controls

Barnier, who is hardly likely to harbor a fundamental interest in undermining EU law, may now be helped by political momentum in neighboring Germany.

Shortly after Barnier took office, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced border controls and "rejections in line with European law" at all German borders until further notice.

With the emerging change of course, France's most important EU partner could in turn become an ally for a tougher migration policy in Europe.

The debate in France is nonetheless much more advanced than in Germany.

The migration reform which was passed last year against popular protests goes far beyond what currently appears to be acceptable to the majority in Germany. The pushback of migrants trying to cross the French border have not made headlines in France for a long time.

In 2017, when Emmanuel Macron was first elected as president, French security forces stopped more than 50,000 people at the French-Italian border alone. Checks were not only carried out on the road and on trains, but also in the mountains.

This article was originally written in German.