Jacques Serais, edited by Laura Laplaud / Photo credit: BERTRAND GUAY / AFP 07:32, April 27, 2023

Elisabeth Borne presented Wednesday the priorities of the government at the request of Emmanuel Macron, dismissing the most divisive subject in the immediate future, the immigration bill. A short-term renunciation that reveals some dissension between the Élysée and Matignon.

Following the Council of Ministers, Elisabeth Borne unveiled the long-awaited "roadmap" which details the program of "100 days of appeasement and action" wanted by Emmanuel Macron after the pension reform. Yet desired by the Head of State, the asylum and immigration law, supposed to "toughen our rules" in terms of expulsion while improving integration, does not appear in the immediate plans of the Prime Minister who postpones the text to the autumn. A short-term renunciation that reveals some dissension between the Élysée and Matignon.

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Elisabeth Borne "doesn't want to talk about immigration, it's not her thing"

Just three days ago, Emmanuel Macron explained in the columns of Le Parisien that he wanted an effective and fair law, in a single text. But on this point, Elisabeth Borne does not follow him. "This is not the time to launch a debate that could divide the country," said the Prime Minister. According to her, there is also no majority in Parliament to vote for such a text.

Bitter observation on the side of the Élysée. "Order was the number one priority of the President," says a close friend of Emmanuel Macron. "And this is only the fourth point of the prime minister's statement." "There have been big tensions between the Elysee and Matignon on this subject," confirms an adviser to the executive. Elisabeth Borne "does not want to talk about immigration, it's not her thing," regrets another.

A Prime Minister who moves forward alone

And as if the break was almost consummated, some in the presidential palace no longer hesitate to distance themselves from the Prime Minister. "We let her do it alone. We are almost no longer concerned by what she says," said an adviser. The next 100 days of Elisabeth Borne at Matignon will not necessarily be happy days.