From 2021, the French government plans to introduce quotas on labor immigration
As RFI notes, human rights activists have already called this measure "dangerous and useless," while representatives of the right-wing opposition, on the contrary, proposed expanding quotas to all types of migration.
Muriel Pénicaud stated that the government will present a list of professions to which quotas will apply in the summer of 2020, and the system will be operational from 2021.
"The employment center and statistics services will begin analyzing the situation within a few weeks. They will identify which sectors lack workers. After that, we will check that we have done everything to offer these positions to the unemployed and refugees. And only then will we set quotas depending on region and profession," the Minister of Labor noted. She added that the list of professions will be updated every year.
Currently, when hiring a foreigner, an employer must prove that they could not find a French employee for the position. According to official documents, the regional service responsible for competition and labor (DIRECCTE) must review relevant applications within two months, but in practice, waiting times can take up to six months. The quota system is intended to simplify hiring foreigners in sectors with low unemployment.
Associations for the protection of migrants' rights stated that the government's proposal is "useless and dangerous." "I doubt that the implementation of this promise, which has already been made several times before, will be effective," said Pierre Henry, Director General of the association "France Terre d'Asile," in a comment to the France-Presse agency. Human rights activists also noted that in 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron opposed the introduction of quotas, and the government's decision is merely a response to the right-wing electorate ahead of new elections.
Annie Genevard, Vice-President of the National Assembly from the Republicans, believes that, in the opposition's view, the government's measures are too modest. "We already talked about this during the presidential election: it is not worth limiting ourselves to introducing quotas only on labor immigration. Only 13% of migrants come to France on a work residence permit," she stated. The representative of the right-wing Republicans emphasized that France should limit the total number of migrants, which is "too large."
In total, in 2019, France issued 250,000 residence permits to foreigners who are not citizens of the European Union. Among them, only 33,000 were issued to labor migrants.