Not even Marine Le Pen is flirting today with the idea of leaving the European Union and returning to the franc as currency. The Frexit (French version of Brexit) is a matter of a very marginal ultranationalist minority. But Los Republicanos (LR), the traditional right, the party heir to Gaullism, has proposed amending the Constitution to establish national primacy over European laws and treaties and thus drastically curb immigration. If put into practice, it would mean a partial Frexit –or an opt-out, according to community jargon–, with serious repercussions, which would question the very philosophy of the European project.
The growing porosity between the extreme right and the right is a phenomenon that has been observed for years in France and other countries. This is a strategy that does not always pay dividends. The Republicans have seen the loss of a good part of their electoral base, especially in the national elections. His last candidate for the Élysée, Valérie Pécresse, president of the Paris region, obtained a disappointing 4.78% of the vote in the first round of last year's elections.
LR continues to have, however, important springs of power. Its 64 deputies in the National Assembly are a group much courted by Macron supporters, who lost their majority. In the Senate, Chamber of territorial representation and indirect election, LR controls 145 seats, the largest minority.
A few days ago, LR presented before the two chambers a proposal for a constitutional law "relating to the sovereignty of France, nationality, immigration and asylum." This initiative caught the government off guard, which had just postponed its own immigration reform. After the ordeal experienced with the pension reform, Macron chose to take a breather and not subject the country to a phase of maximum political tension again. It was clear that the Executive's plan was going to end in failure, since there is no majority in Parliament for a reform that included regularization of foreigners in an irregular situation to fill vacant jobs in sectors such as construction, gastronomy, the transportation or agriculture.
LR's objective is to "restore our sovereignty in immigration matters" and fully apply the brakes to drastically reduce arrivals, facilitate expulsions and restrict access to French nationality. They plan to amend the Constitution to introduce the possibility of a popular referendum on immigration policy. The result should be that French laws, approved by its Parliament and endorsed by the people, take precedence over European laws and treaties, including the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg.
The leaders of LR insist that they do not aspire to Frexit. His model is rather Denmark, a country that even under a Social Democratic government applies an extremely restrictive immigration policy thanks to the opt-outs (exceptions) that it negotiated in its day and that include the single currency (Copenhagen is not in the euro) and the justice. It is obvious that France, due to its weight and geographical centrality in the EU, has nothing to do with Denmark. Giving him exceptional treatment would be an earthquake that would paralyze the European construction.
Republicans don't just get very tough on the immigration issue. In the party, a political conception is gaining ground that, according to some analysts, brings them closer to the postulates of the so-called illiberal democracy, of erosion of the rule of law, which triumph in Hungary and Poland. LR denounces a “silent legal revolution”. He considers that the French Parliament and popular sovereignty are handcuffed by Brussels and also by courts and control bodies, such as the Council of State, the Constitutional Council or supposedly independent administrative authorities, which, without being elected at the polls, assume political influence excessive and in many cases conditioning.
One of those who best embody this illiberal drift is Laurent Wauquiez, former minister of Nicolas Sarkozy, former president of LR and current president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Wauquiez, one of the potential candidates for the Élysée in 2027, talks about eliminating the prerogatives of the “Deep State” – a concept pleasing to Donald Trump – and giving more voice and decision to popular sovereignty and its representatives. "By dint of having counterpowered, there is no power anymore," says Wauquiez.
The extreme right is rubbing its hands because it sees that some of its usual ideas are no longer taboo, they are gaining followers and, therefore, the broad national-conservative convergence may be closer than ever.
