ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the nature and impact of the normative articulation of integration in the laws of nationality and immigration in the French legal system. The articulation between assimilation, integration and nationality has traditionally been embraced within the so-called 'Republican Model of Integration' in France. The Republican tradition has generally been based on the principles of assimilation, nationalisation and neutralisation/privatisation of difference. The study of Republican integrationist doctrine in France leads us first to look at nationality law. The modern mutation creating a contractual relationship between integration and the legislation on immigration has mainly taken place through the adoption of two successive measures denominated as 'Sarkozy's laws I and II'. The welcome and integration contract (CAI) seeks to institutionalise and formalise the integration of TCNs into the French nation for having access to security of residence in France. The Republican assimilation/integration, has not remained static but has been subject to three distinct logics of normativisation, expansionism and externalisation.
