In a parliamentary question submitted on 23 June 2026, MEP Fabrice Leggeri and 12 other MEPs from the Patriots for Europe (PfE) group challenged the European Commission over a stark discrepancy between French government estimates of illegal immigrants in France and Eurostat data. The MEPs argue that the gap — French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez estimated 700,000 illegal immigrants in France in October 2025, while Eurostat reported 159,460 illegally present in France in 2025 — undermines public trust and calls for methodological clarification.
The question points to a 1:4 ratio between the two figures and warns that if similar discrepancies exist across the EU, the total number of undocumented foreign nationals in the Union could exceed three million. The MEPs ask the Commission to explain the divergence and to consider revising Eurostat's statistical category or method to better align with national authorities' estimates.
This is a written parliamentary question, meaning the Commission is expected to reply within approximately six weeks. The answer will signal whether the Commission views the discrepancy as a methodological issue or a data collection problem, and whether it is open to adjusting its reporting framework. The question reflects ongoing tensions between national sovereignty over migration data and EU-level statistical harmonisation, with potential implications for policy credibility and resource allocation.
The question puts pressure on Eurostat to justify its methodology, potentially leading to revised counting methods that could increase reported numbers. French national authorities may see their estimates validated or challenged. EU policymakers face a trade-off between data consistency and responsiveness to national concerns. Civil society groups monitoring migration may face confusion if figures remain contradictory.