The 1968 Franco-Algerian Agreement: Some Reasons Why Paris Won’t Cancel Anything
A parliamentary report enumerated the benefits that Algerians received and what they were deprived of under the bilateral migration agreement of 1968, in a way that showed that the treaty had been emptied of its content, and also revealed the real reasons that prevented official France from abolishing it.
A French Senate report dated November 22, 2023 – checked out by Echorouk- devoted to studying the finance bill for 2024, stated that France does not want to cancel the bilateral migration agreement signed with Algeria in 1968.
Senator Philippe Bonnecarrère, rapporteur of the parliamentary mission related to “immigration, asylum and integration,” stated in the same report; “France has signed more than 110 international agreements with emigration countries. We do not have a standard model for these agreements, which are part of the Prévert inventory. Thus, 63 of these agreements relate to the fight against irregular immigration, including 38 bilateral agreements and 18 European readmission agreements. France has also concluded 7 agreements relating exclusively to LPCs, to improve consular cooperation on this subject, as well as 7 concerted management and co-development agreements, corresponding to the policy carried out with the countries of South Africa and West from 2006”.
“Furthermore, there are 29 agreements focused on professional mobility, particularly that of young professionals. 11 of these agreements aim to promote the mobility of young graduates; the results are modest, with only 91 admissions for stay in 2022. In the same vein, 14 agreements allow young people to go on vacation to France and authorize them to work there on a subsidiary basis. Finally, 14 agreements concern conditions of movement and stay with exclusively African states”, Philippe Bonnecarrère added.
The French Senator referred to the immigration agreement with Algeria by stressing; “Among all these agreements, I naturally single out the Franco-Algerian agreement of 1968, which is from time to time the subject of public debate without anyone knowing precisely what is found there”.
Regarding the reason why official France refuses to terminate the agreement, Bonnecarrère explained; “we remember in particular the remarks of Mr Darmanin (interior minister) last year before the commission who explained that, if we cancel this agreement with Algeria, we would return to the situation before 1968, that is to say, the free movement of people. This 1968 agreement was amended three times, in 1985, 1994 and 2001; for 22 years, no one has changed it”.
According to the French senator, this agreement, “includes stipulations governing the conditions of access to stay, movement and exercise of a professional activity. Everything that is not within the scope of this agreement is regulated by common law, in particular, what concerns matters of removal or asylum. It is generally accepted that this special status would be rather favourable to Algerians, with some nuances, however. Indeed, the agreement having been frozen since 2001, all the developments that have occurred since then in matters of migration in our country do not apply to Algerian nationals”.
He stated that “among the points more favourable to Algerian nationals than our common law provisions, there are the independent means of access to residence; Algerians are, for example, entitled to specific residence certificates, when they can prove ten years of habitual presence in France; and they can also benefit from the delivery of a ten-year certificate when they have resided regularly in France for a period of the same duration, which has no equivalent in our code of entry and stay of foreigners and the right to asylum (Ceseda)”.
“The more flexible conditions of delivery for certain titles, particularly when they marry French men or women, are also favourable to Algerians. For example, no community living conditions are required for the first residence certificate issued. Likewise, for parents of French children, there is no duration condition to certify the contribution to the child’s needs”, he added.
“Third point favourable to Algerians: easier access to long-term residence permits. If an Algerian national wishes to have a ten-year residence certificate, this can be issued after three years of stay compared to five years under common law. Likewise, an Algerian spouse of a French person gains this title after one year of marriage, compared to three years in the general regime”.
“Finally, a final point, which is often the subject of observations, is favourable to Algerians: family reunification. In common law, the residence condition is set at 18 months; this is only one year for Algerians. In the text on immigration, we have increased this residence condition from 18 to 24 months, but Algerians are not affected by this development.”
Conversely, comparing the 1968 bilateral migration agreement with French common law shows that the treaty is completely inappropriate for Algerians, according to him, especially in applying provisions that entered into force after 2001; “the comparison with common law is rather unfavourable for Algerian nationals on certain points, in particular, due to the non-applicability of the provisions which came into force after 2001. Algerians have a less diversified visa regime and do not benefit from notably no visas for long stays. The regime is also less favourable for students; the multi-year residence permit has no equivalent in the 1968 agreement, which forces Algerian students to renew their residence certificates annually”, and then he added another “unfavourable point to Algerian nationals: they do not have access to an intermediate multi-year permit, valid for four years, at the end of the first year of stay. Finally, talent passports do not apply to Algerians either”.
Senator Bonnecarrère revealed the total number of residence certificates for Algerians on French soil, a number that also revealed the extent of the hypocrisy and lies of a large part of the French political class that promoted the mass influx of Algerians to their country, he explained this point; “To better appreciate the subject of Algerian immigration, I would like to give you one last figure, that of the total volume of residence certificates concerning Algerian nationals; this is quite stable, it is today at a level close to 600,000, compared to 545,000 in 2000, while the migration situation has, moreover, evolved considerably”.
“Beyond the geopolitical context, it is difficult to know whether it is relevant to maintain this Franco-Algerian agreement. For the rest, it appears that all these agreements suffer from a lack of harmony. It would be appropriate to study them in more detail, and this is one of the objectives of Article 1 A adopted during the examination of the text on immigration, where it is specified that an assessment be established on these international agreements during each annual debate”, he added.
He concluded that; “if the president of the law committee accepts it, and subject to a work schedule that we know is busy, we think that it would be useful to work more completely, and over time, on the content of these agreements; this work has been little done, it would help us to take a position in the national debate on all these subjects linked to immigration and asylum”.