French Parliament Incites the European Union Against Algeria

In a coincidence that is neither strange nor innocent, a group of French deputies in the National Assembly (the lower house of parliament) affiliated with the far-right movement submitted a proposal to pass a European resolution calling for the suspension of negotiations between Algeria and the European Union and the cancellation of their partnership agreement.

Coinciding with the same day the European bloc agreed to review this trade treaty, the French far-right made a blatant attempt to transfer the crisis and dispute with Algeria from France to the European Union.

This new bias from the French far-right came through a proposed resolution submitted by 22 deputies from the far-right National Rally, known for its hostile stances towards Algeria, dated February 17, 2025, checked out by Echorouk, and which included a clear French plea to the European Union in the battle against Algeria.

It should be noted that the initiative to try to pass a European resolution coincided strangely with the same day that the head of the European mission in Algeria, Diego Mellado, announced Brussels’ acceptance of reconsidering the partnership agreement within the framework of the new Charter for the Mediterranean.

It was clear that this initiative, led by far-right MPs, expresses the failure of political elites in Paris to understand that the era of colonial domination is gone forever, and came as a desperate attempt to transfer the battle of the crisis with Algeria to the level of the European Union, after this movement had previously suffered a disastrous failure in its attempt to cancel the 1968 immigration agreement.

One of the ironies included in the French extremist MPs’ document is the attempt to market the idea that Algeria has not adhered to the terms of the partnership agreement, by accusing it of not respecting the rules of trade exchange and imposing protectionist measures on some strategic sectors, most notably the food sector through the requirements of the “Halal” certificate.

What confirms that the initiative aims ostensibly to transfer the battle to a European level, with an underlying goal of defending French interests, is the allegations contained in this draft that Algeria “is pursuing an unfair competitive policy targeting French and European companies in particular as a means of diplomatic revenge, especially by stopping the import of French wheat or freezing joint industrial projects.”

What is also clear from this move is that there is a trend in France today that is trying to portray the country as a victim of an unequal agreement, even though it was the first to benefit from it, as it exploited the Algerian market for years without making any real concessions. However, after finding itself facing an Algerian leadership that puts the country’s interests above all else, it began to move through the European Union in a desperate attempt to stop negotiations to review the agreement that was unfair to Algeria and not the other way around.

The proposal is based on flimsy arguments, such as accusing Algeria of not fulfilling its commitments in the areas of trade, immigration and security, the same justifications that the French right had previously used in its battle against the 1968 agreement, all of which had failed.

The initiative called on the French government to formally request the European Commission to suspend current trade and political negotiations with Algeria, until what they described as “concrete and measurable guarantees of the fulfilment of the undertaken commitments.”

The document also incited the French government and the European Commission to conduct a comprehensive review or cancel the 2005 partnership agreement, to re-establish a trade and economic balance favourable to French and European interests.