French Decree on Family Reunification of 1976 in the context of the migration issue

Abstract

The article analyzes the French migration policy in the 1960s and 1970s, when a large number of migrant workers from the Maghreb countries arrived in the country, with an emphasis on the significance of the decree on family reunification that came into force in 1976. In modern historiography, both French and Russian, there is an idea that this decree became one of the main mistakes of the presidency of Valery Giscard d'Estaing, symbolized the beginning of the policy of opening borders, attracting a large number of migrants from North Africa to the Fifth Republic and ultimately served as a starting point for the spread of Islam in France, the growth of religious radicalism and, in general, to the modern crisis of national and religious identity. The article is based on the latest achievements of French and Russian historiography. In particular, for the first time in Russian historiography, the results of the research of the French historian Muriel Cohen are introduced into scientific circulation, largely due to which the interpretation of the 1976 decree has changed in France. The article shows that in fact, the procedure for family reunification has not changed significantly since the end of World War II. However, depending on economic conditions and the degree of need for new migrants, law enforcement practice has changed. The French authorities liberally interpreted the issue of housing compliance with established standards in the 1960s during a period of shortage of workers, and vice versa, seriously approached the issuance of certificates of compliance with housing conditions in the 1970s. During the growth of unemployment and discontent of the French population with a large number of migrants from the Maghreb countries. Thus, the decree adopted in 1976 did not make significant adjustments to the migration policy of France and did not lead to an increase in the number of migrants in the country.