Robin Reda: "Let's consult the French on immigration by referendum"

After the weeks of mobilization which marked the debate on pensions, the Renaissance deputy Robin Reda, from the Republicans (which he left in May 2022), calls on the president and the majority not to put sovereign issues under the carpet

Robin Reda: "Let's consult the French on immigration by referendum"

After the weeks of mobilization which marked the debate on pensions, the Renaissance deputy Robin Reda, from the Republicans (which he left in May 2022), calls on the president and the majority not to put sovereign issues under the carpet .

While the immigration bill prepared by Gérald Darmanin is for the time being postponed indefinitely and could be divided into several pieces of legislation, the elected representative of Essonne, close to Valérie Pécresse, recommends consulting the French by referendum to include in the Constitution the possibility of regulating migratory flows. At the risk, otherwise, he warns, of opening a boulevard to the extremes four years before the presidential election of 2027.

Le Point: The Darmanin immigration bill is postponed indefinitely. Are sovereign issues macronie's blind spot?

Robin Reda: The President is well aware of the stakes and the anxiety of the French over questions of authority. But, in the political moment that we are going through, the majority must also be able to hear this concern about the country's ability to preserve its social and cultural model. Now is the time to stop being fearful about these things!

We must continue to hold the common thread of macronism on emancipation, while responding to the very strong demand for protection from the French. They need to feel like they are taking back control. However, the electoral equation of the next presidential election forces us to find solutions if we do not want to be swept away by the solutions of the worst, those of the extreme right.

I therefore propose that we consult the French by referendum, rather than giving the impression that we would seek the lowest common denominator to convince the right without rushing the left on this subject which requires, on the contrary, firmness and clarity. Let us include in our Constitution a great principle, a kind of institutional keystone, which would allow France to regulate the number of foreigners it welcomes each year on its soil. This keystone would first be submitted to the vote of the two chambers of Parliament.

I am convinced that we can find a majority in the Assembly, from the Republicans to certain elected Communists, if I believe the recent declarations of Fabien Roussel on the "passenger borders". In the Senate, the subject is consensus. Once adopted in Parliament, this great principle would be submitted to the French by referendum to enshrine it in the Constitution. It takes a great democratic moment that allows voters to express themselves so that they do not feel that they are the great forgotten of this question which worries them massively.

During the right-wing primary in 2021, Michel Barnier had proposed a referendum to suspend European law and establish a moratorium on immigration…

The great principle that I am proposing would be an equally powerful legal tool to protect us against certain aberrations and excesses of legalism, because we are sometimes singled out when we want to control our borders. It could be very useful to have a constitutional lock in the face of excessive appeals and case law, of course in compliance with our European commitments. A country like Denmark has been very successful in finding a political consensus on this issue. We can be firm and humane, efficient and quick in immigration decisions.

The adage says that the French never answer the question asked during a referendum, but to the one who asks it. Aren't you running straight for failure?

We have become too used to holding referendums on management and not on vision. And a referendum that gives more sovereignty has never been lost. I hear this Pavlovian reflex which consists in thinking that any referendum is lost in advance, but we do not have to get lost in legal quibbles, we need a simple question.

I suggest that we start preparatory work in Parliament - why not a citizens' convention? – to think about the question asked. A majority can emerge in Parliament and in the population around this great principle. This is a question that transcends divides and prejudices: even among the left-wing electorate, there is a very strong expectation of authority and of regaining control.

Once this grand principle was set in stone in the Constitution, what would actually change?

This would allow us to adopt texts, by regulatory or legislative means. I am thinking in particular of a programming law on immigration which would authorize Parliament to set quotas each year, whether by country of origin or job in shortage. In the economic situation we are experiencing, we must recognize that we have a problem of migratory flows which is not going to diminish.

We must give priority to integration rather than reception, reduce flows and fight against failed integration. Everything must be done to annihilate the reasons for voting for the far right in four years. We have a duty to propose solutions. We will not weaken the Rassemblement national with anathemas, but with antidotes. And it doesn't stop with migration. I am also thinking of the anti-fraud plan carried out by the Minister of Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, or the reinvestment in schools and health, which the president makes his top priority.

How do you view your former political family? What do you say to your old LR friends? Do like me, join the majority?

The Republicans have assets to put forward for the country, starting with their lucidity on questions of authority and their local roots, but all this is not immutable. Many of their constituents have already slid to the president and majority parties. The interest of the country is not to fall into the hands of the extremes in 2027 and LR is not in a position today to be the alternative.

Nobody is really asking him to join the majority - this debate still needs to mature - but it's never too late to show consistency on the right. As for our majority, it too must take a step in understanding the concerns and expectations of the French.

Consult our file: Pensions: the big bang