Editing Demographics of France (section)

====Immigration policy====
As mentioned above, the [[French Ministry of Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Codevelopment]] was created immediately following the appointment of Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France in 2007. Immigration has been a relevant political dimension in France's agenda in recent years. Sarkozy's agenda has sharpened the focus placed on integration of immigrants living in France as well as their acquisition of national identity. The state of immigration policy in France is fourfold. Its pillars of immigration policy are to regulate migratory flows in and out of France, facilitate immigrants' integration and promote French identity, honor the French tradition's principle of welcoming political asylum and promote solidarity within the immigrant population (principle of co-development).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.immigration.gouv.fr/|title=Ministère de l'immigration, de l'intégration, de l'identité nationale et du codéveloppement|date=6 November 2008|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106041745/http://www.immigration.gouv.fr/|archive-date=6 November 2008}}</ref> In its 2010 Budget report, the Ministry of Immigration declared it would fund €600 million for its immigration policy objectives, a figure representing 60 million more than in 2009 (otherwise an 11.5% increase from 2009 figures).<ref name=autogenerated2 />

In July 2006, President Sarkozy put into effect a law on immigration based upon the notion of "chosen immigration",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.immigration.gouv.fr/spip.php?page=dossiers_det_imm&numrubrique=286&numarticle=1533|title=Immigration – IMMIG.FR|date=23 May 2009|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523215609/http://www.immigration.gouv.fr/spip.php?page=dossiers_det_imm&numrubrique=286&numarticle=1533|archive-date=23 May 2009}}</ref> which allows immigration into France to a restricted field of employment sectors, notably the hotel and restaurant industries, construction and seasonal employment. The following summer of 2007, Sarkozy amended the law to require the acquisition of the French language as a pre-condition. According to Christophe Bertossi, immigration expert in France's [[Institut français des relations internationales]] (IFRI), "there is a dominant trend in the French policy to stem family migration, notably conditioned after the 2007 law by a minimum level of French language tested and by the demonstration that he/she endorses the main French constitutional principles".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ifri.org/?page=detail-contribution&id=5235&id_provenance=103&provenance_context_id=12|title=IFRI – Institut français des relations internationales|website=Ifri.org|access-date=1 September 2017}}</ref>

Despite Sarkozy's law,  immigration from former colonies in the Maghreb and West Africa would end up steadily increasing under the presidencies of [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], [[François Hollande]] and [[Emmanuel Macron]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Frederick |date=2018-01-24 |title=The Politics of Decolonization in French and British West Africa |url=https://oxfordre.com/africanhistory/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.001.0001/acrefore-9780190277734-e-111 |access-date=2021-04-27 |website=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History |language=en |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.111 |isbn=9780190277734}}</ref>

France, along with other EU countries, have still not signed their agreement to the [[United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families]] of 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/social-and-human-sciences/themes/social-transformations/international-migration/international-migration-convention/|title=International Migration Convention – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|website=Unesco.org|access-date=1 September 2017}}</ref> This convention is a treaty to protect migrant workers' rights, in recognition of their human rights.

Alternative policies have been discussed in formulating immigration policy, such as a quota system. At the beginning of 2008, as the government was rethinking its orientation on immigration policy with the creation of the new ministry, the idea of a quota system was introduced as a possible alternative. In early 2008, a proposal was made to Parliament to decide each year how many immigrants to accept, based on skill and origin. However, this quota policy contradicts the French Constitution. A commission was formed in February 2008 to study how the Constitution could be changed to allow for a quota system. The main difficulty is the origin principle of establishing a quota "constituting a breach in the universalistic ideology of the French Republic".<ref name=autogenerated1 />

On 18 January 2008, the government published a list of 150 job titles that were encountering difficult supply of labour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.immigration.gouv.fr/spip.php?page=dossiers_det_imm&numrubrique=286&numarticle=1409|title=Immigration – IMMIG.FR|date=23 May 2009|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523215557/http://www.immigration.gouv.fr/spip.php?page=dossiers_det_imm&numrubrique=286&numarticle=1409|archive-date=23 May 2009}}</ref> Most immigrants living in France today are reported to cover the following sectors: agriculture, service to persons in need (childcare, the elderly), construction, education, health and services to businesses.<ref>''Infos Migrations'', Number 14, February 2010</ref> Thus, the government is seeking to match immigrants with the economic makeup of France. The current administration could also seek to integrate migrants and their families through education and training, making them more competitive in the job market. To tackle critical labour shortages, France also decided to participate in the [[Blue Card (European Union)|EU Blue Card]].

Therefore, the outlook towards immigrants in France is shifting as unemployment continues to dominate the political agenda, along with political incentives to strengthen French national identity. Recent incidents, such as the [[2005 civil unrest in France|2005 civil unrest]] and [[French Romani repatriation|Romani repatriation]] have shed light on France's immigration policies and how these are viewed globally, especially in congruence or discontinuity with the EU. A longitudinal study has been conducted since March 2010 to provide qualitative research regarding the integration of new immigrants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.immigration.gouv.fr/spip.php?page=dossiers_them_res&numrubrique=317|title=Ressources – IMMIG.FR|date=17 May 2009|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090517130410/http://www.immigration.gouv.fr/spip.php?page=dossiers_them_res&numrubrique=317|archive-date=17 May 2009}}</ref> The report is being finalized at the end of December 2010 and will be most relevant to provide insight into further immigration policy analysis for the French government.