Elections for the Conseil National pour Etrangers (CNE) were held in July 2017, when 22 members, plus their alternates, were selected.

In a parliamentary question to the integration minister, MP David Wagner warned that with the school holidays, there was a risk the group would not meet until a year afer their appointment. “This would be all the more unfortunate if the CNE was unable to give a report on the integration situation of foreign residents before the October 2018 elections,” Wagner wrote.

Among other things, he questioned whether such a delayed process was normal, whether the advisory body has filled all posts and when it could expect to start work.

The CNE is composed of 35 members, who represent foreign nationals, refugees, Syvicol, employers’ organisations, trade unions and civil society. Of that number, 22 members are foreign nationals of which seven originate from countries outside of the EU.

Its role is to study, on its own initiative or at the request of the government, issues related to foreigners and their integration, and it is mandated to provide an annual report on integration for the government.

The CNE was criticised in 2017 by the foreigner support association Asti’s Serge Ferreira for being “totally absent from the referendum” (on foreigner voting rights). Its functioning was reportedly crippled by internal squabbles, leading members to call for specific reforms to improve its function.