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THE IDEA IS UNDER REVIEW AND COULD BE ADDED TO A NEW IMMIGRATION BILL. APPLICANTS WOULD HAVE MORE OR FEWER POINTS DEPENDING ON THEIR DEGREE, LANGUAGE SKILLS OR ORIGIN A French MP has said

that France should adopt a points-based immigration system, ahead of the presentation of the government’s new _projet de loi immigration _bill in the Senate next week. An unnamed MP from the

Renaissance party said that there are hopes that an amendment will be added introducing plans for a _permis de travail à points_ (points-based work permit) during the Assemblée nationale

debate stage. This was one of the proposals put forward by Les Républicains’ new leader Éric Ciotti during the presidential candidate primaries in 2021. READ MORE: NEW LEADER OF FRENCH LES

RÉPUBLICAINS PARTY IS ‘RIGHT OF RIGHT’ “At the moment, Mr Ciotti is spending a lot of time with [Interior Minister Gérald] Darmanin; [Mr Ciotti] could be persuaded to vote for the text,” a

member of Les Républicains told La Dépêche. A member of President Emmanuel Macron’s party Renaissance also told the newspaper: “So that this bill avoids being an accumulation of technical

measures, we need to provide a vision of our immigration policy which is not only quantitative but also qualitative, as while we work in quantitative terms we are stepping on Rassemblement

National’s toes. “I am calling for the introduction of a points-based work permit in order to prioritise different criteria. Applicants would have more or fewer points depending on their

degree, their language skills or their origin. “Germany is in the process of doing this. We must encourage people who will confirm the benefits of immigration to come, people who work in the

innovation sector, for example. “Today, 38% of the people who arrive in France have _le brevet_ [the exams taken by pupils in the equivalent of Year 10 or ninth grade] or less.” It is

thought that if a points-based system were introduced, the criteria would be regularly revised by parliament. “It needs to be decided in a transparent way,” a Renaissance MP told La Dépêche.

SCEPTICISM FROM SOME MPS However, Mathieu Lefevre, another Renaissance MP in charge of the working group on immigration, said that the idea is “something that we are looking at but nothing

has been decided.” He added: “I am personally not convinced; I think that there is also work to be done with countries of origin so that they reject the work permit applications that we do

not want.” A points-based system would likely be accepted by Les Républicains in view of Mr Ciotti’s previous proposals, but Rassemblement National (RN) is less likely to support it. “Apart

from for doctors, nursing staff and some researchers, I do not see – considering the unemployment rate in France – why we would not train up French people rather than going abroad to look

for people,” RN MP Jean-Philippe Tanguy said. “This bill will, once again, do nothing,” RN’s Marine Le Pen said during a press conference. “It will not make progress in a situation which is

catastrophic [...] immigration is completely out of control in our country.” Far-left party La France Insoumise (LFI) is also expected to be in opposition but for different reasons. “This

project betrays the philosophy of the text,” LFI MP Hadrien Clouet said, calling it a “completely utilitarian vision”. Countries that currently have a points-based system in place include

Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Singapore. BALANCE OF ‘FIRMNESS’ AND ‘HUMANITY’ The projet de loi immigration is likely to be voted through by the Senate as it is without much

opposition as this chamber is dominated by members of Les Républicains and centrist groups. However, the Assemblée nationale debate that follows may prove less straightforward for the

government. Ministers have suggested that the existing text proposes the acceleration of expulsion procedures for people who have been asked to leave France, the provision of work permits

for undocumented workers in sectors under strain and language tests for people applying for multi-year _titres de séjour_. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne has said that the bill is

“balanced”, combining “firmness” with “humanity”. RELATED ARTICLES LANGUAGE TEST, NEW RESIDENCE PERMIT: MINISTERS SHARE IMMIGRATION PLANS SUSPECT IN MURDER OF LOLA, 12: WHAT IS A OQTF ORDER

TO LEAVE FRANCE?