On December 17, 2023, France Universités issued a press release expressing the very strong concerns of its members about the measures introduced in the bill "to control immigration and improve integration".

Emmanuel Trizac, President of ENS de Lyon, supported the press release and joined the academic community in expressing strong reservations about the content of the bill the Senate put forward. He sent a letter to the representatives in the National Assembly and senators to alert them, a letter which was also shared with a large number of academic leaders (see below).

On December 20, 2023, after taking note of the measures in the immigration bill passed by the Senate and the National Assembly on December 19, 2023, university presidents issued a second press release, which President Trizac joined.

In the second release, academic leaders "rue the fact that the text in its present version attacks the values on which French higher education is founded: those of universalism, of openness and welcome, of the free and fruitful exchange of knowledge, and of the spirit of the Enlightenment". They conclude their letter by collectively reaffirming [their] strong and determined opposition to this set of measures".

Copy of the letter addressed to the deputies and senators

Ladies and Gentlemen Members of Parliament of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region,

As President of the École normale supérieure de Lyon, whose campus brings together citizens of 80 countries, I would like to draw your attention to the strong concerns expressed my fellow university and school presidents and I have regarding the text the Senate put forward on the bill "to control immigration and improve integration".

French universities are key to our country's scientific, cultural and diplomatic influence, and the measures listed in the bill in its present state run against our centuries-old tradition of openness to the world. Higher education and research would risk losing their influence, and the French-speaking world and France's image would be weakened as a result.

You will find the press release on the France Universités website, which reaffirms France's commitment to being the European Union's leading host country for higher education and research, and oposes these unacceptable measures.

Yours sincerely

Emmanuel Trizac,
President of the École normale supérieure de Lyon

France Universités

France Universités is an association under the French law of 1901 which brings together the executive directors of universities and higher education and research establishments in order to bring the voice and values of universities into the public debate. It currently has 116 voting members, including the university presidents, directors of the Écoles normales supérieures, the INP and the INSA, and general administrators. As a force for proposals and negotiations with the public authorities, the various higher education and research networks, economic and social partners and national and international institutions, France Universités reacts to changes in the world of higher education and research and proposes elements for transformation.

See the France Universités website