The French government wants a new residence permit for foreigners to fill skills shortages and allow some asylum seekers to quickly enter the workforce under proposed revisions to immigration rules.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt told Le Figaro newspaper that the bill due to be sent to Parliament in early 2023 seeks to balance the needs of the labor market and voter concerns about identity, integration and security.
Dussopt said the bill reflected the government’s “pragmatism and realism”.
The French reform comes at a time when other European countries are also easing immigration rules to cope with labor market pressures, although it is a particularly sensitive issue in France.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said this month that Europe’s biggest economy should attract more foreign workers and make it easier for women and older people to work to avoid labor shortages and a pension crisis in Germany. the next years.
Spain modified its residence permit rules this year to ease restrictions on working foreign students and to allow temporary work permits for overstretched sectors, while Egypt will provide seasonal workers to help meet the needs of Greece’s agricultural sector under a pilot plan.
However, in Britain, where Brexit has exacerbated labor shortages, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has rejected calls by business to liberalize immigration to help boost growth.
Under French plans, the new work permit for stressed sectors of the economy would run until the end of 2026 and would seek to ‘regularise’ certain groups of foreigners already working in the country, rather than newcomers.
A report published by the national statistics agency INSEE in November singled out builders, care assistants, butchers and plumbers among the professions suffering from acute shortages.
Unemployment in France fell to its lowest levels in 14 years in the third quarter, but was still above 7%. Still, many voters are against using immigration to fill the gaps.
The government of President Emmanuel Macron lacks a working majority in the lower house of parliament and will need the support of the conservative Les Republicains party to pass a vote.
Some right-wing lawmakers warn that the immigration bill is not tough enough and will lead to a wave of foreigners being in France illegally to obtain documents. Left-wing opponents say the proposals are too repressive.
