- LREM MP Stéphanie Do and her colleague LR Pierre-Henri Dumont presented this Wednesday a report on "the evaluation of the costs and benefits of immigration in economic and social matters".
- The two elected officials make 22 proposals to encourage professional immigration to France.
- They call on the government to improve the professional integration of immigrant populations or to simplify the procedure for authorizing the recruitment of foreign workers.
France does not place enough emphasis on professional immigration. This is the observation made by two deputies in an information report on the “costs and benefits of immigration in economic and social matters”, made public this Wednesday in the National Assembly. For months, Stéphanie Do (LREM) and Pierre-Henri Dumont (LR) have been studying this delicate subject, which is often the subject of tension and instrumentalization.
Unskilled, unevenly distributed over the territory and highly exposed to unemployment or downgrading, the immigrant population in France is still struggling to integrate into the job market, points out the report. Throughout this document, which should soon be presented to the government, MPs formulate 22 recommendations to remedy this and encourage professional immigration. Objective displayed by the elected majority Stéphanie Do, questioned by 20 Minutes : "break the received ideas".
What is the objective of this information report on the cost and benefits of immigration?
It was necessary for several reasons. The primary objective was to review all the sources, data and studies available on immigration figures. This work of synthesis is also a way to better understand the immigrant population in France, to break the received ideas and fantasies about this immigrant population. The figures exist, they are provided by various bodies such as the OECD or INSEE but there is no homogeneity in the parameters taken into account. We wanted to put it all flat.
What great lessons can we learn from your report?
We can remember several important figures. The first is that 6.4 million foreign people born abroad live in France. This poses a framework. This population is not very diverse, very concentrated in certain regions such as Ile-de-France. She is very often exposed to unemployment or downgrading with a particular problem for women who represent almost half of this foreign population. The other lesson highlighted in this report is the importance of family and humanitarian immigration to France compared to economic immigration. In 2019, the latter represented 13% of the residence permits issued.
What recommendations do you make to encourage this professional immigration?
We have formulated 22 in total. The initial observation was that the impact of immigration on growth and the job market in France was almost nil or very moderate. A real professional immigration steering committee should be set up. Attracting more qualified workers would provide enriching complementarity for our country. The list of professions in tension in France has also become completely obsolete, it is proposed to update the recruitment procedures and make France more attractive to skilled immigrant populations. Unfortunately, the immigrant population is not enough.
We also recommend several measures to better integrate immigrant women into the labor market. They are still very affected by unemployment for various reasons, linguistic or family. It is necessary to promote the professional activity of these women and give them more access to language courses. There has also been a delay in France in terms of skills recognition and obtaining diploma equivalence. We need a support process because it is still an obstacle course for these people.
Why is France struggling to encourage professional immigration?
So far, our policy on the subject has remained focused on family and humanitarian immigration and not professional immigration. There is a historical reason for this. But the absence of a clear synthesis of immigration figures in France has also allowed certain political parties to propagate xenophobic speeches. It is therefore also a question of political will. Having been able to interact with the government, I know that today this will exists and that the executive wants to accelerate professional immigration.
However, on November 5, when the government had just unveiled its measures on possible migration quotas, the Minister of Labor immediately recalled that "her absolute priority" was to "allow the French to find work" ...
I am not in the comment. What I know is that Muriel Pénicaud wants to work on several levers to encourage professional immigration, with quantified objectives or the announcement, last November, of the update of the list of professions in tension. She works hard there. But the integration through work of the entire French population, immigrant or not, is obviously necessary. It goes hand in hand.
Aren't you afraid of having your report buried by the government?
No, I don't believe it. Our work is a parliamentary work, intended to make an inventory of fixtures, deliver analyzes and to provide an analysis in conformity with the returns of the ground which we had. We have made realistic proposals that are easy to implement. Now, we are focused on the next step, the presentation of the report to the government, which should take place in the coming weeks.
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