President Macron accepts the Prime Minister’s resignation as new immigration law changes take effect in France.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal submitted his resignation to French President Emmanuel Macron, who accepted it. However, he requested that Attal continue leading an interim government until a new prime minister is chosen amidst preparations for the Paris Olympics which will attract worldwide attention.
Attal’s decision to step down enables him to become a legislator in the National Assembly, heading Macron’s centrist supporters and evading a possible vote of no confidence. The interim administration under Attal will handle daily operations. There is presently no fixed schedule for designating a fresh prime minister.
Breaking news: Immigration laws have undergone major revisions. A series of decrees, published six months after the contentious law’s implementation, now mandate that non-citizens applying for residency in France must uphold certain values commonly associated with “the Republic”. These include individual liberty, free speech rights and gender equality as well as respect for human dignity and adherence to secularism. Additionally applicants are expected to acknowledge national identity through recognition of symbols suchs as motto or territorial integrity.
Failure to adhere to these principles may lead to rejection or revocation of residency permits. Furthermore, a new ruling has toughened the criteria for declining or terminating material provisions granted to those seeking asylum and eliminated mandatory administrative appeals against such determinations. Moreover, an administrative penalty has been introduced as a consequence for employing illegal migrant laborers, and daily check-ins have become more frequent for individuals under house arrest waiting deportation.
The left and human rights activists have strongly opposed these measures, which are just one aspect of a larger reform in immigration policy. These laws were criticized as “inhumane” and “arbitrary”. Despite facing some resistance from the Constitutional Council, they were enforced without complete revision by January 2023.
