The meeting was set for eight in the morning. From the blue room of the Hôtel de Matignon, on Tuesday, October 15, Michel Barnier would bring together the various representatives of his “common base”, the appropriate allies of his government coalition. Is it about smoothing the angles and calming things down between these very heterogeneous personalities who mix political rivalries and presidential ambitions?
Matignon swears that this breakfast, which should be weekly, is in no way a crisis meeting. Sitting between Laurent Wauquiez, the leader of the deputies of Les Républicains (LR), or Gabriel Attal, his counterpart from the Renaissance, the prime minister, harassed by criticism from his own ranks, will not bang his fist on the table. Not your type, they say on the rue de Varenne. The former European commissioner plans, as always, not to say anything. “It is his methodsums up the Prime Minister’s environment. Then decide. »
A veteran of politics, Michel Barnier, 73, tries not to notice anything, but those close to him, who know the irascible character of the former European commissioner, describe him as quite annoying. Head of a government without a majority, Matignon’s tenant must deal with the moods of his own supporters. Since no coalition agreement was signed before the formation of their government, each camp discovers, day after day, the initiatives of Barnier’s team and feels free to challenge them.
The painful memory of the “immigration” law
On Monday, some elected representatives of the presidential camp choked up after having heard, the day before, the government spokesperson, Maud Bregeon, a Macronist, promise a future “immigration” law scheduled for early 2025. The announcement is not really a surprise. Bruno Retailleau, Minister of the Interior, former head of the LR group in the Senate, has already expressed his desire to legislate on numerous occasions. But the project revives a painful memory for Macronie, torn by the previous law, approved in December 2023 with the votes of the National Assembly (RN). Within a few hours, discomfort appears.
“We approved a law on immigration less than a year ago, with measures, some of which are not yet in force because the decrees have not yet been issued”says Gabriel Attal about France Inter. “Making a law for the sake of making a law makes no sense”adds the president of the Renaissance deputies, judging the project “It is not a priority.”
“This ad is a provocation,” says Stéphane Travert, (Renaissance) deputy for La Mancha with the World. “ If it is about recovering the horrors censored by the Constitutional Council…”, insists this close friend of Emmanuel Macron, recalling that the 2023 bill, toughened by LR, included legislative clauses and devices aimed at systematizing national preferences that had been widely rejected by the Constitutional Council.
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