Nicolas Sarkozy and the politics of French immigration policy

Abstract

Since 2002, French immigration policy has been largely driven by Nicolas Sarkozy, as Minister of the Interior, leader of the centre-right UMP and, from 2007, President of the Republic. His discourse and action on immigration control and integration have diverged in significant respects from earlier centre-right handling of these issues. This contribution seeks to explore how and why Sarkozy has changed the terms of the immigration debate in France by examining the way in which policy has evolved and by identifying the forces driving the conduct and stance of the centre-right in France. In particular, it assesses the extent to which shifts in policy have been a response to political competition and public opinion. It concludes that party political considerations have been a major factor in Sarkozy's strategy and that, while this appears to have paid off in electoral terms, its success in social terms is more equivocal.

Keywords:

• Centre-right parties
• France
• immigration and integration policy
• political competition
• public opinion
• Sarkozy

Notes

1. TNS-Sofres, 18–19 May 2007.

2. Louis Harris, 5–6 May 2002.

3. Ipsos, 21 April 2002.

4. Sofres, 21 April 2002.

5. Ipsos, 29–30 November 2002.

6. TNS-Sofres, 6–7 December 2006.

7. Libération, 24 April 2004.

8. Parisien-Aujourd'hui en France, 29 March 2006.

9. Le Monde, 1 October 2005.

10. Speaking at the UMP conference ‘Une immigration choisie, une immigration réussie’, 9 June 2005.

11. Ipsos, 12 November 2005.

12. Le Monde, 27 October 2005.

13. Sarkozy's New Year wishes to the press, 12 January 2006.

14. Interview in Le Monde, 28 April 2006.

15. Quoted from his 2006 book, Témoignage.

16. Addressing the UMP, 22 April 2006.

17. In a letter to the association France Terre d'asile, 8 February 2007.

18. LH2, 23 April 2007.

19. TNS-Sofres, 26–27 April 2007.

20. 56 per cent according to an OpinionWay poll, 11 October 2007.

21. Access to the FNES datasets was provided by the Banque de Données Socio-Politiques (BDSP) at IEP Grenoble.

22. TNS-Sofres, 6–7 December 2006.

23. Eurobarometer 65, French special report, Spring 2006.

24. FNES and Sofres.