Policy win for Macron as tougher immigration Bill passes

But compromise with conservatives exposes cracks in President’s centrist coalition

- French lawmakers on Dec 19 gave their final approval to a contested Bill that toughens rules for immigrants, giving President Emmanuel Macron a policy victory that nonetheless exposed cracks in his centrist majority.

The Bill, a compromise reached between Mr Macron's party and the conservative opposition, illustrates the rightward shift in politics in much of Europe, as governments try to fend off the rise of the far right by being tougher on immigration.

"Today, strict measures are necessary," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said after the vote in the Lower House.

"It's not by holding your nose in central Paris that you can fix the problems of the French in the rest of the country." The minister expressed relief that the Bill passed with the votes of his centrist coalition and the conservatives, without relying on the surprise endorsement of farright lawmakers, whose support had caused embarrassment in the presidential camp.

The French government had initially said that this would be a carrot-and-stick legislation that would make it easier for migrants working in sectors that lack labour to get a residency permit, but would also make it easier to expel illegal migrants.

In order to gain support from the right, however, the government agreed to water down the residency permits measures, while delaying migrants' access to welfare benefits including benefits for children and housing allowances by several years.