45th session of the Assembly of French Citizens Abroad: alliances that cut across political divides

From 12 to 16 October, the 90 councillors of the Assembly of French Citizens Abroad (AFE) met in Paris to inaugurate the new term of office.

The AFE represents French citizens living outside France before the public authorities. It works on topics as varied as consular services, French education, taxation, pensions, social protection, economic development and security.

This first session was meant to elect the new leadership, set up the committees and allocate responsibilities. On paper, nothing very complicated. In practice, things turned out to be considerably more eventful!

But first, who represents whom at the AFE?

To understand what happened, here are the five political groups that now make up the Assembly:

When the left, LFI, LR and the Libres et Indépendants find common ground

The big surprise of this first session was the formation of a majority bringing together three groups with very different political leanings:

• Progressistes, Écologistes et Solidaires: 36 members;
• DeFIA, which includes a number of LR members: 12 members;
• Libres et Indépendants, who are close to Olivier Cadic: 10 members.

That makes 58 members out of 90, nearly two-thirds of the Assembly.

Socialist, Green, La France insoumise, right-wing and centre-right members thus found themselves in the same coalition to organise the governance of the AFE.

La France insoumise has only seven members, less than 8% of the Assembly. Yet, within the PES group, it is part of this majority bloc, which is supported in particular by LR members and by the Libres et Indépendants.

These rapprochements, which our ALICE group regards as "unnatural alliances", raise questions about the consistency of the political positions stated by these various parties.

Each group is free to seek agreements. But it is also legitimate for voters to understand how these alliances are built and what their consequences are.

And what about proportionality in all this?

This majority secured the election of Baptiste Heintz as President of the AFE, and of Radya Rahal and Christophe Lejeune as Vice-Presidents.

It also played a decisive role in the allocation of responsibilities.

Of the six committee chairs:

• Five went to the majority groups;
• One went to the Solidaires et Indépendants group, with its 18 members;
• None went to our ALICE group, which has ten members.

ALICE did, however, obtain two committee vice-chairs and a seat on the AFE Bureau.

Our disagreement concerns the method used to allocate responsibilities and the application of the principle of proportionality set out in the rules of procedure.

A democratically formed majority can naturally elect its own representatives. But we believe that the place given to the other groups must also reflect their numerical weight.

The size of the committees also caused problems, with some initially having far fewer members than others.

Discussions were sometimes tense. We asked for greater transparency, a rebalancing of the committees and respect for the common rules.

The rules of procedure will still need to be worked on, and we will be paying particularly close attention.

Because our aim is to be able to work effectively in the service of French citizens abroad.