France’s National Assembly has for the first time voted a motion pushed by the far-right National Rally urging the repeal of a 1968 agreement which grants Algerian citizens special residency and immigration rights.
MPs backed the motion to end the 1968 bi-lateral accord by just one vote – 185 in favour to 184 against.
Tabled by the far-right National Rally (RN), it was backed by some conservative Republicans (LR) and members of former prime minister Édouard Philippe’s Horizons group.
While the resolution is non-binding – only the president and prime minister have the power to end an international agreement – it marks a strong symbolic victory for the far-right party whose resolutions have usually been rejected by centrists, conservatives and the left.
"This is a historic day for the National Rally," said Marine Le Pen, leader of the parliamentary group, shortly after Thursday morning's vote. "For the first time, a text presented by the National Rally … has been adopted," she continued, adding this was despite opposition from the left, President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist Renaissance bloc, and the government.
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Left-right divide
Signed six years after Algeria gained independence from France, the 1968 agreement allows for Algerians and their families to obtain French residency certificates – similar to residency permits issued to other foreigners – through an expedited procedure.
Algerians are also allowed to set up as freelancers or start their own businesses without the extra formalities other foreigners may face.
Le Pen urged the government to take parliament’s vote "into account", arguing that the 1968 accord was outdated and no longer reflects France's immigration needs.
“We consider there is no longer any justification for maintaining this convention,” she said.
Left-wing parties condemned the move. “Shame on the RN, which endlessly continues the wars of the past,” Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of the hard-left France Unbowed, said in a post on X.
The left denounced the text as racist, prompting heated exchanges with the far right over whether the motion was justified.
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Just one vote
Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure criticised the low turnout by Macron's Renaissance parliamentary group, led by former prime minister Gabriel Attal.
“Where were the Macronists? Gabriel Attal was absent,” he wrote on X.
“We were short of one vote – the one that could have stopped the RN,” added Cyrielle Chatelain, leader of the Greens parliamentary group.
Attal was attending a forum on the sustainable transformation of tourism at the time of the vote.
In January, Attal had himself called for the 1968 agreement to be revised, saying it was necessary “to set limits and assume the balance of power with Algeria”, notably in the light of the detention of French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal.
Earlier this month, two MPs from Macron's party penned a report arguing for the agreement to be overhauled.
"The text and spirit of the '68 agreement have gradually been diverted from their original intention," MP Charles Rodwell told the commission, referring to subsequent agreements and changes to the accord – which he said have increased the cost to French taxpayers to at least €2 billion a year.
Discomfort over the vote was reflected in the turnout, which was low across all political stripes.
Only 30 out of 92 Macronist MPs were present, with three abstaining.
