French MPs reject immigration bill without debate

By Nur Asena Erturk

Members of the French National Assembly rejected an immigration bill before debate in Monday's session, according to media reports.

After being adopted Nov. 14 by the Senate, the draft law was scheduled for debate by the lower house's MPs starting Dec. 11.

Ecologist groups submitted a motion to dismiss the bill which was adopted by a 270 - 265 vote, with the support of opposition parties, including left- and right-wing factions, according to the Le Point magazine.

The bill was thus de facto rejected.

The government decided to form a joint committee of seven senators and seven MPs to find a consensus between the majority and the opposition, government spokesperson Olivier Veran announced Tuesday.

It was one of the government's three options, according to French law, apart from two others, which were either withdrawing the bill or resending it to the Senate for a review.

Majority parties, including the Renaissance, urged not withdrawing the bill, while left-wing MPs of the La France Insoumise and Socialist Party, and right-wing National Rally, welcomed the rejection.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, the owner of the immigration project, expressed his will to President Emmanuel Macron to step down. Macron rejected the suggestion, said Le Point.

The project aims to harden the family reunification process, suppressing state medical assistance and requiring French proficiency as a condition for a residency permit, among other measures.

Article 3 of the draft law was the most debated and is related to giving a one-year residency permit under certain conditions to irregular foreign workers who operate in "sectors under tension," that suffer labor shortages.

Darmanin said previously that the law "would help better integration and better expelling."