On April 11, the Constitutional Council ruled against the launch by LR parliamentarians of a shared initiative referendum on immigration. This decision confirms that it is now impossible to carry out a real reform of migration policy.
The legal means used are diverse, but all result in restraining the public authorities. By its decision, the Council considerably reduces the power of the legislator to treat foreigners and nationals differently. In doing so, it preempts popular sovereignty, while one of the major features of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic was to associate parliamentary sovereignty, exercised by elected officials. The Council uses the Preamble to the Constitution, a catalog of major social declarations which was not intended to become positive law. It illustrates the capacity of this body to obstruct any immigration reform in France. The decision was handed down on Thursday April 11. It denies LR Parliamentarians the possibility of launching a shared initiatives referendum (RIP) on foreigners' access to social benefits. It also prevents them from launching a referendum on the right to asylum.