Bruno Retailleau, the radical voice of the French government

He is the newest member of the Council of the European Union. Frenchman Bruno Retailleau took part in his first meeting of home affairs ministers on Thursday (10 October). Before taking his first steps on the European stage, the French representative had immediately set his political stance: he wants a firmer approach to migration policy.

On his arrival in Luxembourg, the former president of the Republicans in the Senate assured us that there would be European convergence in order to protect citizens “from migratory shocks”.

For European Policy Centre political analyst Eric Maurice, Bruno Retailleau is in line with the political guarantee he must provide within the minority French government, behind which the shadow of the far right constantly looms. Following the parliamentary elections, no group obtained an absolute majority. The left-wing bloc, the New Popular Front, came out on top, ahead of the presidential camp (Ensemble pour la République) and the far-right Rassemblement National.

The Republicans, led by the Prime Minister and Interior Minister, received 6% of the vote. The political survival of this team, which relies on the presidential centre and the Christian Democrats, therefore depends on the parties outside the coalition.

EU Return Directive from a ‘radically different world’

“Bruno Retailleau is a token given to the French right and the far right in terms of discourse, since Bruno Retailleau is quite tough on migration issues”, Maurice explains.

Having called for the European Pact on Asylum and Migration, adopted last spring after years of difficult negotiations, Bruno Retailleau is now calling for it to be implemented as quickly as possible, or even “in advance”.

The French minister also wants to review the Return Directive, the guiding principle of which is to return all illegal immigrants to their country of origin or transit. This text, adopted in 2008, also sets the duration of detention and the treatment of minors.

The regulation was drafted and adopted “in a radically different world. It (the directive) is a misnomer because, in reality, the Return Directive prevents many people from returning”, Retailleau claimed.

In addition, the French Interior Minister “does not rule out any a priori solution” for transferring migrants to centres outside the European Union, along the lines of the agreement between Italy and Albania. “All innovative solutions must be used”, he insisted.

This radical approach is echoed across Europe. The far right is gaining ground at the polls in several member countries, Germany has reintroduced controls at its land borders, the Netherlands is reforming its asylum policy, and Hungary was fined 200 million euros by the EU Court of Justice in June on charges of “systematic and deliberate evasion” of European asylum policy.

Domestic target audience

“Perhaps Bruno Retailleau saw this as a political opportunity”, Eric Maurice suggests, adding: “I think he has a mainly national vision. He is also someone who is not extremely well known on the national political scene. He was within the Senate, he was the leader of the right-wing group in the Senate. But he needs to carve out a national political stature for himself. He needs to assert his political identity. I think we’re talking about a proactive stance to mark out his political territory within the coalition”.

Bruno Retailleau also provoked controversy over the rule of law. He believes that, as a principle, it “is not intangible, nor sacred”, a comment quickly reframed by the French Prime Minister, Michel Barnier.

However, these comments seem to have won over Hungary’s Viktor Orbàn. The Hungarian nationalist leader admitted to the press at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday that he had “a great deal of respect for” the French minister.