France lawmakers seek deal on tougher

A group of French lawmakers met on Tuesday to try and strike a deal on a contested bill that will toughen France’s immigration laws and has highlighted the difficulties for President Emmanuel Macron of running the country with no majority in parliament.
The government had initially said this would be a carrot-and-stick legislation that would make it easier for migrants working in sectors that lack labour to get a residency permit, but would also make it easier to expel illegal migrants.
But, without a majority in the lower house of parliament since the June 2022 elections, and in order to gain support from the right, the government has progressively agreed to water down measures meant to give some migrants residency permits, while tightening access to welfare, among other steps.
EU lawmaker Jordan Bardella, who heads the far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally) said the toughening of immigration laws showed “an ideological victory” for his party, a characterisation of the talks which lawmakers in Macron’s camp disagreed with.
Some lawmakers said the special committee meeting on Tuesday was already heading towards an agreement.