The French Parliament voted by a single vote to denounce the Franco-Algerian agreement on the movement, residence, and employment of Algerian nationals, handing the Rassemblement national
(National Rally) party, an unprecedented symbolic victory.
The French National Assembly approved by 185 votes to 184, a resolution put forward by the National Rally (RN) to “denounce” the Franco-Algerian agreement of December 27, 1968.
This agreement has governed the special entry and residence regime for Algerian nationals
in France for over half a century.
The text, while not legally binding, nevertheless marks a major political turning point: it is the first time a proposal from the far-right party has been adopted in the chamber.
“For the first time, a text presented by the National Rally has been adopted,” Marine Le Pen declared after the vote, calling on Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu to “abort without delay” the bilateral agreement.
The resolution, which calls on the government to end a system deemed “obsolete” and “discriminatory,” garnered the support of several right-wing and centrist MPs, notably from Horizons, the party of former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe.
Conversely, 184 parliamentarians, mostly from left-wing groups, voted against it, denouncing a “xenophobic exploitation” of the migration debate.
The adoption of the text was made possible by the notable absence of many MPs from the presidential party, Renaissance.
Of the 92 elected officials, only 30 participated in the vote, most of whom rejected the proposal. The party leader, Gabriel Attal, who had himself previously mentioned the need to “revisit” the 1968 agreement in the context of diplomatic tensions with Algiers, was not present at the meeting.
The government has yet to issue an official statement. The resolution, although not legally binding, is fueling the debate on the normalisation of the National Rally (RN) within the French institutional landscape.
Several figures on the left, including Mathilde Panot (La France Insoumise), have accused the presidential majority of having “broken the cordon sanitaire” by allowing a motion that is “racist” and “contrary to the republican spirit.”
The 1968 agreement, revised three times (1985, 1994, 2001), still governs a privileged status for Algerian nationals, facilitating the granting of residency permits and access to employment in France.
Its questioning resonates with the rise in diplomatic tensions between Paris and Algiers, regularly revived by the issue of migration, colonial memory and security matters.
MK/AK/fss/as/APA