Gabriel Attal, leader of President Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance party and a main centrist contender for the 2027 presidential election, has called for France to move towards a more selective and “controlled” immigration policy centred on economic needs.
Speaking on Europe 1 and CNews this morning, the former prime minister declared: “Today, we do not choose our immigration.”
He advocated shifting the balance towards labour migration while tightening rules on family reunification and other non-economic routes.
Attal proposed defining France’s labour requirements in consultation with social partners before parliament sets annual quotas by sector.
He also expressed support for adopting a Canadian-style points-based system to assess regularisation applications, rewarding criteria such as skills, language proficiency and adherence to Republican values.
On family reunification, currently possible after 18 months of residence, he suggested lengthening the qualifying period and strengthening requirements for French language mastery and respect for core Republican principles.
Attal explicitly rejected mass regularisations of the kind announced by the Spanish Government earlier in April, which plans to legalise around 500,000 undocumented migrants.
The remarks mark a rightward shift in tone from the 37-year-old politician, who has increasingly referenced former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s style and toughened his language on integration and secularism in recent months.
While still opposing constitutional changes or treaty exits favoured by some on the Right, Attal is signalling a pragmatic hardening on migration as he prepares for what many see as an as yet undeclared presidential campaign.
His comments come amid ongoing national debate over immigration, with polls consistently showing strong public demand for tighter controls.
They also follow April 23’s publication of his memoir En homme libre (As a Free Man), in which he reflects on his political journey and distances himself somewhat from Macron.
In addition, Attal has recently opened up publicly about his personal life in a way that has drawn significant media attention.
In a chapter titled Gay and in television interviews, he revealed that he has reconciled with Stéphane Séjourné, the European Commissioner for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy.
The pair entered a civil partnership in 2017, separated in 2022,and got back together in 2024.
Attal described Séjourné as “the love of my life” and said the couple hope to have a child despite the difficulties faced by same-sex couples in adoption.
This overture came after opposition leader Jordan Bardella, of the right-wing National Rally, enjoyed positive attention when he went public with his relationship with Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies, a young Italian aristocrat.
Former French prime minister Gabriel Attal has criticised National Rally and its de facto leader Marine Le Pen, arguing they were attacking France’s democracy. https://t.co/aODedPbAg6
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 7, 2025
