The National Assembly in the French Institutions
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THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY IN TTHE FRENCH INSTITUTIONS November 2014 S ERVICE DES A FFAIRES INTERN ATIONAL ES ET DE DÉFENS E NOTE These files answer questions often asked to the departments of the French National Assembly. All the departments of the National Assembly have played a part in their writing and have been guided by two main principles: The files represent summaries of each subject; The files are practical, in order to be easily used by the readers. Therefore this collection is not a textbook of constitutional or parliamentary law. Each file deals with a different topic autonomously and thus there may be some overlapping between files. This document is regularly updated and supplemented. The original title of this document is “L’Assemblée nationale dans les institutions françaises”. Translated from the French by Declan Mc Cavana. Assemblée nationale – Service des affaires internationales et de défense 33, rue Saint-Dominique – 75355 Paris Cedex 07 – www.assemblee-nationale.fr/decouvrir-l-assemblee 3 CONTENTS 1. General Presentation of French Political Institutions ..................................... 5 2. The President of the Republic ...................................................................... 13 3. The Government .......................................................................................... 25 4. The National Assembly and the Senate – General Characteristics of the Parliament .................................................................................................... 33 5. The Congress of Parliament ......................................................................... 39 6. The Constitutional Council .......................................................................... 43 7. The Conseil d’État (Council of State) .......................................................... 51 8. The Judicial Authority: The Ordinary Court System and the Court of Cassation (Final Court of Appeal) ............................................................... 57 9. The Court of Accounts ................................................................................. 65 10. The Economic, Social and Environmental Council ..................................... 71 11. The Territorial Organization of France ........................................................ 75 12. The Defender of Rights ................................................................................ 81 13. Equal Access for Women and Men to Elected Offices and Positions ......... 87 14. The Election of an M.P. ............................................................................... 93 15. The Financing of Political Life: Political Parties and Election Campaigns101 16. Status of the M.P. ....................................................................................... 107 17. M.P.s’ Allowances and Material Means .................................................... 117 18. Arrival and Reception of M.P.s ................................................................. 123 19. The President of the National Assembly .................................................... 127 20. The Bureau of the National Assembly ....................................................... 135 21. The Questeurs ............................................................................................ 141 22. Political Groups .......................................................................................... 147 23. The Place of Opposition and Minority Groups .......................................... 153 24. Standing Committees ................................................................................. 161 25. The Rhythm of Sessions and Sittings ........................................................ 171 26. The Setting of the Agenda and the Conference of Presidents .................... 177 27. The Minister in Charge of Relations with the Parliament ......................... 183 28. The General Secretariat of the Government .............................................. 187 29. The Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly ................................... 191 30. The Law: Expression of the Legislative Power of Parliament ................... 199 31. The Legislative Field ................................................................................. 205 32. The Legislative Procedure ......................................................................... 211 33. Government’s Right to Initiate Legislation ............................................... 227 34. Parliament’s Right to Initiate Legislation .................................................. 233 35. The Examination of Bills in Committee .................................................... 241 36. The Plenary Sitting ..................................................................................... 251 37. The Use of the Right to Amend ................................................................. 265 38. The Financial Admissibility of Parliamentary Initiatives: Article 40 of the Constitution and Institutional Provisions concerning Finance Laws and Social Security Financing Laws ................................................................. 277 39. Monitoring the Constitutionality of Laws .................................................. 285 40. The Parliamentary Examination of Finance Acts ...................................... 291 4 41. The Parliamentary Examination of Laws on the Financing of Social Security ...................................................................................................... 307 42. The Ratification of Treaties ....................................................................... 313 43. The Revision of the Constitution ............................................................... 319 44. Votes at the National Assembly ................................................................. 325 45. Making Government Accountability an Issue of Confidence .................... 331 46. The Resolutions of Article 34-1 of the Constitution .................................. 337 47. Declaration of War and Armed Interventions Abroad ............................... 341 48. The Role of Standing Committees in the Monitoring of Government....... 345 49. Commissions of Inquiry and Fact-finding Missions Set Up by the Conference of Presidents ........................................................................... 351 50. The Assessment of Public Policies ............................................................ 359 51. Questions .................................................................................................... 367 52. The Monitoring of the Implementation of Laws and the Assessment of Legislation and Public Policies .................................................................. 371 53. The Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment .. 377 54. Parliamentary Delegations ......................................................................... 383 55. The Other Means of Information Available to M.P.s ................................ 389 56. The National Assembly and the Formulation of European Instruments .... 395 57. The European Affairs Committee .............................................................. 403 58. The International Activities of the National Assembly ............................ 413 59. Inter-parliamentary Cooperation ................................................................ 421 60. Friendship Groups ...................................................................................... 425 61. The Participation of the National Assembly in International Institutions . 431 62. Communication at the National Assembly ................................................ 437 63. Press Relations ........................................................................................... 441 64. The Internet Site of the National Assembly ............................................... 447 65. The Parliamentary Television Channel (LCP-Assemblée Nationale and Public Sénat) .............................................................................................. 451 66. The Children’s Parliament ......................................................................... 455 67. The Status and Career Development of Civil Servants of the National Assembly .................................................................................................... 459 68. The Structure of the Departments of the National Assembly .................... 467 69. The Secretaries General ............................................................................. 469 70. The Budget of the National Assembly ....................................................... 473 71. The Drawing-up, Examination and Approval of Questure Decisions ....... 481 72. The Table Office ........................................................................................ 489 73. “Operational Poles” .................................................................................... 499 74. The Communication and Multimedia Information Department ................ 503 75. The Library and Archives Department ...................................................... 507 76. The Report Departments ............................................................................ 515 77. The Human Resources Department ........................................................... 519 78. Information Technology at the National Assembly .................................. 523 79. Security at the National Assembly ............................................................