The French Confederation of Christian Workers ( CFTC ) is a union of French employees referring, when it was founded in 1919, to the social doctrine of the Church (DSE). Since 1947, it has been inspired by Christian social morality which refers to the DSE. During the confederal congress of November 1964, a rupture occurred between the left wing of the movement, influenced by Marxism (70% of the mandates, approximately), favorable to the class struggle , and those who remained attached to Christian values. The minorities decided to keep the Christian-inspired CFTC while the majority gave the name of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor(CFDT) to the structure resulting from the transformation. A long and complex legal battle ensued. Justice ended up recognizing that one could not qualify as a split the attitude of the minority since it continued the spirit and the Christian values of the great CFTC. On a material level, the law of the majority allowed the CFDT to recover almost all of the heritage of the former CFTC.
Since the return of the CFDT to the reformist camp, relations between CFTC and CFDT have calmed down.
The CFTC was recognized as " representative " by an interministerial decree of 1966, in the same way as the CFDT , the CFE-CGC , the CGT and the CGT-FO under the irrebuttable presumption . After the end of this (by the law of August 20, 2008 which put an end to this situation by introducing new criteria of union representativeness ), it retained its representativeness having fulfilled the new criteria during professional elections.
With the CFDT , the UNSA and the CFE-CGC , it constitutes the “ reformist pole ” of the French trade union centers 1 .
Summary
1Story
1.1XIX th century
1.2The foundation
1.3Establishment in mines
1.4World War II and the Resistance
1.5The deconfessionalisation of 1964 and the “maintained” CFTC
1.6Reformist and democratic unionism
2Values and Identity
2.1General values
2.2Opposition to marriage by same-sex couples
3Organization
3.1Confederal congresses
3.2Presidents
3.3General Secretaries
3.4Professional federations
4Representativeness
4.1Labor elections
5Bibliography
6Notes and references
7See as well
7.1Related article
7.2external links
History
xix th century
Christian unionism was born in the form of an "Association of young workers", founded by Maurice Maignen in 1855, which in 1865 became the "Circle of young workers", better known under the name of Cercle Montparnasse, located at 126, boulevard du Montparnasse 2 . In 1871 , after the Paris Commune , Count Albert de Mun relied on this circle to create a national association, the Oeuvre des cercles catholiques douvriers , also called the "circles ouvriers", which had 375 circles in France. in 1878 .
the March 21, 1884, the repeal of the Le Chapelier Law by the Waldeck-Rousseau law legalizes unions, which allows the creation in 1886 of the Syndicate of French Journalists , under the name of "Corporation of Christian Publicists". Its founder is Victor de Marolles , director of the journal of the Work of Catholic Circles of Workers . The following year saw the birth of the Union of Trade and Industry Employees , only male, bringing together 18 activists of the Work, theSeptember 13, 1887. Chaired by Paul Baé, he moved to rue des Petits Carreaux in Paris, where he opened a workers restaurant 3 . Four years later, he launched his own newspaper Lemployé, then structured in 1894 around 4 groups : administrative employees, fabrics, clerks and building. At the same time, outside the Christian sphere, the National Federation of Trade Unions , ancestor of the CGT , appeared in 1886 and the Paris Bourse du Travail in 1887 .
The foundation
After the intense industrial effort of the First World War , the Christian unions born in 1886 - 1887 initiated the founding of the CFTC on the 1 st and November 2 , 19193 . It brings together 321 unions and claims to be part of the Rerum Novarum encyclical . The objective is to counter the omnipotence of the CGT in the working class. The slogan of the new CFTC is "social peace".
At the start of the year, there were still just over 5,000 members and three federations: free education, railway workers and employees, as well as two federations of exclusively female unions 4 , including the Union of Free Womens Trade Unions 5 . But quickly, the "Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Alsace and Lorraine", led by Mulhousien Camille Bilger (1879-1947), Léon Adolf and Jean Keppi took a leading role in the beginnings of the new union, bringing its 21,000 members, mainly in textiles and mining. Established in 1920, the CFTC now has 578 unions and 156,000 members, including 43,000 employees, and 35,000 railway workers [ref. necessary]. Also in 1920, the CFTC helped with other European Christian unions to found the International Confederation of Christian Trade Unions. Created in May 1920 6 , the Federation of Metallurgy CFTC decides in 1922 to create a federal resistance fund, to help strikers, despite the advice of Henri Meck , who underlines the failure of professional funds, and recalls the success of inter-professional funds in Alsace 6 .
Implantation in the mines
Son of an industrial designer from Saverne, Henri Meck joined the “Federation of Christian Trade Unions of Alsace and Lorraine” in 1929 and in 1922 became its general secretary. In Pas-de-Calais , Jules Pruvost and his colleague Jules Catoire founded in the back room of the café "LEspérance", the "Free Union of Miners" (SLM), which came up against pressure from the managers of the coalmines. at the Bishops Palace 7 . In December, Jules Pruvost was elected general secretary 7 . In 1924, the SLM became part of the French Federation of Professional Trade Unions for Minors, led by Henri Meck, who worked on the establishment of the CFTC within the coal mines of Lorraine, then became secretary general of the CFTC Federation of Miners, joined by Louis Delaby 8 .
The CFTC is the first national organization to propose a union path other than that based on Marxist or anarcho-syndicalist analyzes . The ideological fund of social Christianity gives it an autonomy and a legitimacy that other non-socialist trade union organizations, such as yellow trade unionism , cannot acquire. In 1937 , the CFTC saw the membership of a first secular union, the General Union of National Education (SGEN).
Gaston Tessier was the first secretary general of the CFTC, Jules Zirnheld was its first president, a position he held until 1940 .
The Second World War and the Resistance
Example of membership card with monthly contribution stamps.
The CFTC was officially dissolved in November 1940 by the Vichy regime . Jules Pruvost joined the resistance and took care of a sector which took charge of the Allied airmen 9 . Jules Catoire , helped by Joseph Sauty , Louis Delaby and Joseph Martin, distributes the Cahiers du Témoignage chretien in the Pas-de-Calais department 9 , as well as the underground newspaper La Voix du Nord . Louis Delaby takes a stand in favor of union pluralism 10 and supports Gaston Tessierin its fight against a participationist tendency within Catholic circles. The latter, founder of the Liberation-North resistance movement , represents the CFTC at the National Council of the Resistance and publishes an article in the daily LAube "Syndicalismes" to insist on the place which must return to the union fact and to stress that the CFTC and the CGT "gave the Resistance an extremely devoted support which was accentuated on the eve of the national uprising by the general strike order launched by mutual agreement by the committee of understanding".
Due to the action of some of its members in the Resistance (it is an active member of the National Council of the Resistance ), the CFTC is maintained, at the Liberation , as a representative trade union organization despite the hostility of the CGT , which goes to the Council of State to have it banned.
In 1962, two branches of the CFTC (technicians and land workers) merged to become the General Federation of Agriculture , a federation which joined the CFDT when deconfessionalization 11 .
The secularization of 1964 and the CFTC "held"
In 1964 , it is the deconfessionalisation of the CFTC : a majority of the CFTC led by the “Reconstruction” group around Paul Vignaux , Albert Détraz , Jacques Delors 12 decides the “deconfessionalisation” (abandonment of the reference to Christian social morality ) while remaining behind the choice of the class struggle 13 to give birth to the French Democratic Confederation of Labor ( CFDT) . Quickly, the CFDT declares to place its action within the framework of the class struggle . It is closer to socialism and in particular to the Unified Socialist Party (PSU) led byMichel Rocard , from 1966 to 1970, while a reformist minority decided to maintain a Christian powerhouse (around 10%). This "maintained CFTC" is directed by two of the organizers of the French miners strike of 1963 , Joseph Sauty and Jean Bornard , supported in the East by Henri Meck 14 , the first having been identified by the press and the radios as the father. of this victorious, non-politicized and very followed strike 15 . Deputy Secretary General (1964), then in title (1970) of the power station, Jean Bornard was elected president in 1981 - a position he left in 1990 16 .
The reformist and democratic trade unionism
In the meantime, in 1975, the CFTC was in favor of the Sudreau Report on company reform.
Between 1981 and 1984, the CFTC played an important role in the defense of freedom of education, in particular through the determined action of the National Union of Christian Education (SNEC-CFTC), within Catholic education crossed by currents favorable to the government project, with a clear slogan: "Freedom cannot be negotiated".
In 1988, it supported the creation of the minimum integration income ( RMI) and was neutral during the creation of the generalized social contribution ( CSG) in 1990. The union is in favor of 35 hours , youth jobs, the elaboration of the 1998 law against exclusions and the law creating universal health coverage ( CMU) . In 2006 , he presented his workers statute project, launched by a “program report” in 1999 and implemented by a working group since 2003 .
Between 2001 and 2006, in the works council elections, the CFTC was the only trade union confederation to progress, with 6.8% in 2006, 6.7% in 2003, 6% in 2001, against less than 5% in a few years earlier. However, with the law of August 20, 2008 "on the renovation of social democracy and reform of working time", the CFTC is not immune to losing, in several companies and professional branches, its representativeness.
the 1 st May 2008, the CFTC brings together nearly 6,000 people during its unitary parade in Paris around the theme of purchasing power.
In 2010, the CFTC made proposals to reform the pension system and participated in the five major days of events . She denounces most of the measures taken by the Minister of Labor Eric Woerth in his reform . The union demands an increase in old age contributions and a taxation of new capital income; it offers, including a 3% tax on profits not reinvested and requires a broader base of contributions to certain income: stock options , retirement-hat , participation , sharing 17 . It also proposes a one point increase in theCSG , which would make it possible to generate eleven billion euros in resources, and that part of the CSG be "flagged", with effective control over the allocation of sums paid to the old age branch. The CFTC also demands that all reductions in social contributions be offset to the nearest cent by taxes 18 .
In April 2017, in the period between the two rounds of the 2017 presidential election between Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron , the CFTC criticized "protectionism and blind economic policies, such as the return to the franc", "l “Frances self-exclusion from the European Union” and “the exclusion of foreigners” advocated by the FN, which according to the union are incompatible with its “humanist values” 19 .
Values and identity
General values
The CFTC promotes negotiation, discussion, even mediation before any more industrial action. For this organization, a strike is only the ultimate solution when all other means have not given satisfaction.
Among its workhorses, the CFTC insists that life is more than work. This value is and has been the basis of many fights, from the establishment of family allowances, for example, to the defense of Sunday rest as a day common to most citizens for family life, leisure, etc. sport, volunteering, etc. For the CFTC, society should not be limited to consumption.
The CFTC wants to put the worker at the center of his life, making him an actor to the maximum of his choices and his future when possible. To do this, it recommends that the routes be secure so that everyone can really make choices, without being subjected to a situation or a system. In the same vein, the trade union organization leaves great freedom to the unions that make it up, aware that they are more aware of the reality to defend the workers on the ground. This is what she calls the principle of "subsidiarity" . This does not prevent him from calling to order, or even putting certain organizations under supervision.
The CFTC asserts itself independent of any party and any organization. For her, the reference to Christianity is understood as an attachment to Christian social doctrine (solidarity, fraternity, social justice, etc.), not as a denominational identity. The members are not necessarily Christians but are found in the values advocated by the CFTC.
Opposition to marriage for same-sex couples
Even if the CFTC banned the use of his name during events organized by La Manif pour tous , several personalities from the union took a stand against the right to same- sex marriage . Despite this ban, Pasquier Cognacq, president of the CFTC retirees, will organize travel in 2013 on behalf of his union, to go and demonstrate against the right of homosexual couples to marry 20 .
The vice president of the union: Joseph Thouvenel will make a speech in his own name, at the grandstand during the demonstration of October 16, 2012 of La Manif pour tous . A photo of him with Marion Maréchal will also be controversial 21 , 22
The union itself, through its president Philippe Louis, in 2012, will demonstrate its opposition to marriage for same-sex couples in an interview with AFP 23 .
Organization
The CFTC is divided into 17 regional unions and 93 departmental and interdepartmental unions.
It has 650 unions grouped into 14 professional federations (trade-services-sales forces, private education, metallurgy, local authorities, transport, telecommunications, banks, etc.).
It claims 140,000 members 24 .
Every four years, unions meet in Congress and elect a Council, which elects a Bureau. The Confederal Council meets three times a year and is responsible for overseeing the executive. The executive is two-headed, it is made up of an executive commission and the national office.
The CFTC is a member of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). Previously it belonged to the World Confederation of Labor (WCL).
The headquarters of the CFTC are in Paris XV, at 45 rue de la Procession.
Congress confederal
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1887: Creation of the Trade and Industry Employees Union
1912: Pentecost Congress, creation of the Federation of Employees
1919: Foundation of the CFTC
1920: First congress of the CFTC
1921: 2 nd Congress
1922: 3 rd Congress
1923 4 th Congress
1924 5 th Congress
1925 6 th Congress
1926 7 th Congress
1927 8 th Congress
1928 9 th Congress
1929: 10 th Congress
1930: 11 th Congress
1931 12 th Congress
1932 13 th Congress
1933 14 th Congress
1934 15 th Congress
1935 16 th Congress
1936 Congress in May 1936 ( 17 th )
1936 17 th Congress
1937 18 th Congress
1938 19 th Congress
1939: 20 th Congress
Between 1940 and 1945: the Confederation goes underground.
1945: 21 st Congress
1946: 22 nd Congress
1947: 23 rd Congress
1948: 24 th Congress
1949: 25 th Congress
1951: 26 th Congress
1953: Congress of Asnieres ( 27 th )
1955: 28 th Congress
1957: Congress of Asnieres ( 29 th )
1959: Congress of Issy-Les-Moulineaux ( 30 th )
1961: Congress of Issy-Les-Moulineaux ( 31 th )
1963: Congress of Issy-Les-Moulineaux ( 32 th )
1964: Extraordinary Congress of Paris, split between the CFDT and the "CFTC maintained"
1965: Congress of Vincennes ( 33 th )
1967: Congress Issy-Les-Moulineaux ( 34 e )
1969: Congress of Issy-Les-Moulineaux ( 35 th )
1971: Congress Clichy ( 36 th )
1973: Congress Clichy ( 37 th )
1975: Congress Clichy ( 38 th )
1977: Congress of Versailles ( 39 th )
1979 Strasbourg Convention ( 40 th )
1981 Congress in Lyon ( 41 th )
1984 Congress of Marseille ( 42 th )
1987: Congress of Versailles ( 43 rd )
1991: Lille Congress ( 44 th )
1993: Congress of Versailles ( 45 th )
1996 Nantes Congress ( 46 th )
1999: Dijon Congress ( 47 th )
2002: Toulouse Congress ( 48 th )
2005: Bordeaux Congress ( 49 th )
2008: Strasbourg Congress ( 50 th )
2011: Poitiers Congress ( 51 th )
2015: Congress Vichy ( 52 th )
2019: Marseille Congress ( 53 rd )
Presidents
Jules Zirnheld : 1919-1940
Georges Torcq : 1945-1948
Gaston Tessier : 1948-1953
Maurice Bouladoux : 1953-1961
Georges Levard : 1961-1964
Joseph Sauty : 1964-1970
Jacques Tessier : 1970-1981 25
Jean Bornard : 1981-1990
Guy Drilleaud: 1990-1993
Alain Deleu : 1993-2002
Jacques Voisin : 2002-2011
Philippe Louis: 2011-2019
Cyril Chabanier: From 2019 26
Secretaries General
Gaston Tessier : 1919-1940 then 1944-1948
Maurice Bouladoux : 1948-1953
Georges Levard : 1953-1961
Eugène Descamps : 1961-1964
Jacques Tessier : 1964-1970
Jean Bornard : 1970-1981
Guy Drilleaud: 1981-1990
Alain Deleu : 1990-1993
Jacques Voisin : 1993-2002
Jacky Dintinger: 2002-2008
Philippe Louis: 2008-2011
Pascale Coton: 2011-2015
Bernard Ssez: 2015-2019
Eric Heitz: from 2019
Professional federations
State agents (State Civil Service) 27 .
Agriculture: mutuality, credit, cooperation, agricultural workers, SICA, rural family houses, various organizations.
Banks: financial institutions, Crédit populaire, Crédit mutuel, stock exchange, Savings banks, AFB banks, CFF, Banque de France.
Bâti-Mat TP: building, public works.
CMTE (chemicals, mines, textiles, energy) 28 : chemical and related industries, mines, quarries, mining social protection regime, textiles, leather, clothing and related, electricity and gas industries, energy.
FFPT (Federation of Territorial Public Service)
CSFV (commerce, services and sales force) 29 : hotels, cafes, restaurants, bars, collective catering, non-food trade, food trade, services, tertiary services, agro-food, sales force.
Communication: press, advertising, show.
Education and Training bringing together the National Union of Christian Education (SNEC) and the National Union of Private Secular Education (SNEPL).
CFTC Metallurgy Federation 30
Media +: staff and former staff of Post and Telecom companies, engineering sectors, design offices and consulting companies, audiovisual, journalists, cardboard, publishing 31 .
PSE Federation (Social Protection and Employment) 32 : Social Security, work and employment (Pôle Emploi), training.
CFTC Santé-Social Federation 33 , which brings together unions from the public ( CFTC APHP ), private and personal services sectors.
Transport (General Federation of Transport CFTC) 34 : rail, air, sea and river, urban, road, transport services.
Representativeness
The representativeness of the CFTC allows it to participate in national interprofessional negotiations and to be represented in joint bodies . But, since the law "on the renovation of social democracy" published in the Official Journal of Aug 21 , 2008, the rules of union representativeness have changed. From now on, it is the company elections that condition it, at the level of companies with more than 10 employees from the entry into force of the 2008 law, as well as in professional branches and at inter-professional level.
However it will be the 1 st January 2014, with the conclusions of the General Directorate of Labor, which performs the aggregation of the results of professional elections in enterprises and the vote taken in companies with fewer than ten employees ( TPE ) end 2012 and the agricultural sector elections in early 2013, to determine union representativeness by professional branch as well as at the national level.
According to figures from the High Council for Social Dialogue published in March 2017, the CFDT is for the first time at the top of the professional elections held from 2013 to 2016 with 26.37% of the vote (+ 0.37 compared to 2013) ahead of CGT 24.85% (- 1.92 point), FO 15.59% (- 0.35), CFE-CGC 10.67% (+ 1.24 point), CFTC 9.49% (+ 0.19), UNSA 5.35% (+ 1.09) and Solidaires 3.46% (- 0.01). The relative weight (retained for the only representative organizations at the national level is 30.32% for the CFDT, 28.57% for the CGT, 17.93% for FO, 12.27% for the CFE-CGC and 10, 91% for the CFTC. 35
Prudhomales elections
The CFTC achieved a score of 8.94% in the industrial tribunal elections of December 2008, a decrease of 0.71 points compared to 2002 (9.65%), but above the 7.53% of those of 1997 Since 2013, the CFTC has fluctuated between 9.3% and 9.5% of the votes, which makes the central the 5th union in France and ensures it is representative at the national level (above the 8% threshold necessary to be representative)
During the campaign for the 2008 elections, she innovated with the launch of a web miniseries, Dark Elevator 36 , which features several characters stuck in the social elevator. The slogan chosen for the labor court campaign is a synthesis of CFTCs approach: "To be able to oppose, always to propose".
Trade union organization19871992199720022008201320172021
CFTC8.308.587.539.658.94%9.30%9.48%9.50%
2008/2002 results by college 37 :
Industry: 7.8 / 8.3%
Trade: 9.1 / 10.0%
Agriculture: 6.9 / 7.6%
Various activities: 8.8 / 10.3%
Supervision: 10.6 / 11.4%
Overall: 8.9 / 9.6%
Bibliography
Hubert Landier, Why the CFTC? Cerf , 1975, Preface by Jacques Tessier
Michel Launay La CFTC, Origines et développement 1919- 1940 , Publications de la Sorbonne , 1987, Preface by Jean-Baptiste Duroselle of the Institute ( ISBN 2-85944-120-4 )
Jacques Tessier, The CFTC, how Christian unionism was maintained , Fayard , 1987, Preface by Henri Guitton ( ISBN 2-213-02034-5 )
Jacques Tessier, Marxism or Christian Social Doctrine? , Fayard , 1992, ( ISBN 2-213-02974-1 )
Robert Vandenbussche, "CFTC" in Historical Dictionary of French political life in xx th century , Jean-François Sirinelli (ed.), PUF , 1995, 2003, coll. Quadrige Dicos Poche ( ISBN 978-2-13-052513-4 )
Alain Deleu, Work, take back your place , Fayard , 1997, ( ISBN 2-213-59982-3 )
Armel Gourmelon, Activist among many others , SPFC / Frédéric Aimard Éditeur, 2015, ( ISBN 979-10-92996-04-3 )
Jean-François Vanneste, The CFTC without complexes, 30 years of social construction unionism , SPFC / Frédéric Aimard Éditeur, 2015, ( ISBN 979-10-92996-03-6 )
Joseph Thouvenel, CFTC - 100 years of Christian unionism and beyond? , Tequi, 2019.
Philippe Portier , A century of social construction. A history of the CFTC , Flammarion, 2019.
The National Assembly is the French institution which forms, with the Senate , the Parliament of the Fifth Republic . Its role is to debate, propose, amend and vote on laws, and to control the action of the Government . Unlike the Senate, it has the power to force the resignation of the government by passing a motion of no confidence . It sits at the Palais Bourbon in Paris . Since 1986, the National Assembly has had 577 members, called deputies , elected by direct universal suffrage by first past the post in two rounds. for a period of five years.
Since the beginning of the XV th Legislature in 2017, the largest group is that of the Republic running . The presidency of the National Assembly has been held by Richard Ferrand since September 2018.
Summary
1Story
2Site
3Role
3.1Discussion and vote on the law
3.2Control of government action
3.2.1Confidence vote
3.2.2Motion of censure
3.2.3Responsibility commitment on a text
3.2.4Other means of control
3.2.5Questions
3.3Other prerogatives
4Dissolution
5Organization of sessions and sessions
5.1Sessions
5.2Calendar
5.3Agenda
5.4Public sessions
5.5Position of the actors
5.5.1Cemetery "
5.6Presidency
6Elections of deputies
6.1Conditions of eligibility
6.2Organization of elections
6.3Replacement of deputies
6.4Gender and womens rights
7Organization
7.1Office
7.1.1President of the National Assembly
7.1.2Vice-presidents
7.1.3Quaestors
7.1.4Secretaries
7.2Commissions
7.2.1Standing legislative committees
7.2.2Commissions of inquiry
7.2.3Other instances
7.3Political groups
7.4Majorities and presidency since 1958
7.5Details of the bureau, political groups, standing committees and delegations
7.6Sycamore database
8Administration
8.1Officials
8.2Budget
9Notes and references
9.1Notes
9.21958 constitution
9.3Organic laws
9.4Ordinance on the functioning of parliamentary assemblies
9.5Other references
10See as well
10.1Bibliography
10.2Related articles
10.3external links
History
Related article: History of French institutions .
The Jeu de Paume oath is considered the beginning of French parliamentary history.
The history of national representation for two centuries is closely linked to that of the democratic principle and the rugged path it had to travel before finding in French institutions the consecration that it deserves today.
If the French have periodically elected representatives since 1789, the method of appointment and the powers of these representatives have varied considerably from time to time, the periods of erasure of the parliamentary institution generally coinciding with a decline in public freedoms. In this regard, denominations are not innocent. That of the National Assembly, chosen in the fervor of 1789, did not reappear - if we except the brief parenthesis of 1848 - only in 1946. In the meantime, different names followed (“ Conseil des Cinq-Cents ” instituted by the Constitution of Year III in August 1795, “ Chamber of Deputies of Departments ”, “ Chamber of Representatives ”, “ Legislative Body "," Chambers of Deputies ", etc.).
Location
Related article: Palais Bourbon .
The Bourbon Palace seen from the Seine .
The National Assembly sits in the Palais Bourbon Ord58 1 in the 7 th arrondissement of Paris on the left bank of the Seine , in a building that houses since 1799 all lower houses of the French Parliament . Its monumental facade, slightly offset from the axis of the rest of the building, overlooks the famous Quai dOrsay (the National Assembly is also next to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is aligned with the Pont de la Concorde ) . If the main entrance is n o 126 of the rue de lUniversité, you can also access it by the Quai dOrsay (33-35) and by the rue Aristide-Briand . The Hôtel de Lassay , seat of the presidency and official residence of the President of the National Assembly , is also assigned to the Palais Bourbon Ord58 1 .
All the buildings assigned to the National Assembly cover a floor area of 158,000 m 2 for nearly 9,500 premises. In addition to the Palais Bourbon, it is made up of four other buildings reserved for the offices of deputies and their collaborators 1 :
a seven-storey building built in 1974 , located on the other side of rue de lUniversité, at 101, and linked to the Palais Bourbon by an underground passage,
a second located at 233 boulevard Saint-Germain (acquired in 1986 ),
a third bought in 2002 , located 3 rue Aristide-Briand (former headquarters of the RPR ),
purchased in 2016 when it housed ministerial offices, the Hôtel de Broglie must be renovated to replace the rental of offices at 3 rue Aristide-Briand 2 .
Some of these buildings also house the services necessary for the functioning of the National Assembly. These services include in particular the IT department which ensures the proper functioning of the equipment used by legislative actors, but also all the digital platforms offered directly to Members of Parliament or Internet users. Other services such as accounting, human resources or administration are also housed in these premises.
Finally, an official store is located at 7 rue Aristide-Briand .
In a note published on the website of the Jean-Jaurès Foundation and made public in November 2017 , the LREM deputy Adrien Taquet suggests decentralizing the National Assembly in a large provincial city like Marseille , in a desire for symbolic rapprochement of elected officials towards citizens, while criticizing the premises of the xix th century became inadequate 3 .
Role
Related article: French Constitution of October 4, 1958 .
The National Assembly is an institution of the V th Republic and forms with the Senate one chamber of the French Parliament . As such, it votes the law, controls the action of the government and evaluates public policies C 1 . Its powers are fixed by the Constitution .
The National Assembly among the institutions of the V th Republic.
The institutions of the Fifth Republic, set up in 1958 , correspond to the ideas of General de Gaulle , as he had set them out in 1946 . Until 1962 , the public authorities had to resolve the Algerian crisis . Then, a second phase begins, at the institutional level, with the election of the President of the Republic by direct universal suffrage and the appearance of a homogeneous majority in the National Assembly, and in the field of foreign policy. . The period of strong economic growth continued until 1973 . The re-composition of the majority after the 1974 presidential elections, then the political alternations of 1981 (presidential elections, then legislative elections after dissolution of the National Assembly), 1986 (legislative elections), 1988 (presidential elections, then legislative elections after dissolution of the National Assembly), 1993 (legislative elections , followed by presidential elections in 1995 ), 1997 (legislative elections, after dissolution of the National Assembly) 2002 and 2007gradually changed the way the institutions function. The National Assembly sees its role more and more asserted, both politically and in terms of government control, then confirmed by the constitutional revision of July 2008 .
Discussion and vote on the law
Main article: Legislative process in France .
The voting desk of a deputy.
A legal text can originate with the Prime Minister (the text is then a “bill”) or a member of Parliament (“proposed law”). Certain laws are necessarily of governmental origin, such as finance laws . Bills may be submitted first to the National Assembly or to the Senate, except in the case of finance laws which first pass through the National Assembly, and laws having as their main object the organization of local authorities. or the representative bodies of French people living outside France who are first submitted to the Senate C 2 .
For an ordinary bill or private bill, the text is first submitted to one of the standing parliamentary committees, or to a special committee appointed for this purpose C 3 . During the discussion in committee or in session, the Government and the Parliament may add, modify or delete articles ("amend the text"). Amendments by parliamentarians may not result in a reduction in public resources or the creation or aggravation of a public charge. The Government may request that the assembly vote in a single vote on all or part of the text under discussion, retaining only the amendments proposed or accepted by the Government C 4 .
The bills or proposals of law are examined successively by the two assemblies until the text is identical. After two readings by the two chambers (or only one if the Government has decided to initiate the accelerated procedure without the Conferences of Presidents having jointly opposed it) without agreement, the Prime Minister or, for a bill, the Presidents of the two assemblies acting jointly, can convene a joint committee (composed of an identical number of senators and deputies) in charge of proposing a compromise text. This can be submitted by the Government for approval to both assemblies. No amendment is admissible except with the agreement of the Government. If the mixed commission does not succeed in adopting a common text or if this text is not adopted by the two assemblies, the Government may, after a new reading by the National Assembly and by the Senate, ask the National Assembly to take a final decision. In this case, the National Assembly may adopt either the text drawn up by the mixed committee, or the last text voted by it, modified if necessary by one or more of the amendments adopted by the Senate.C 5 .
Laws can be referred to the Constitutional Council , before their promulgation, by the President of the Republic , the Prime Minister, the President of the National Assembly, the President of the Senate or sixty deputies or sixty senators C 6 .
The President of the Republic promulgates the laws. He can ask Parliament for a new deliberation of the law or of some of its articles. This new deliberation cannot be refused C 7 .
The President of the Republic, on a proposal from the Government or on a joint proposal from the two assemblies, may submit to referendum any bill relating to the organization of public powers, to reforms relating to the economic, social or environmental policy of the nation. and to the public services which contribute to it, or tend to authorize the ratification of a treaty which, without being contrary to the Constitution, would have an impact on the functioning of the institutions. A referendum on a subject mentioned above can be organized on the initiative of one fifth of the members of Parliament, supported by one tenth of the voters registered on the electoral lists C 8 .
Control of Government action
As a chamber of Parliament, the National Assembly controls government policy . It has more power in this area than the Senate, through the procedures of vote of confidence, motion of censure, and commitment of responsibility by the government on a C 9 text . Concretely this means that the majority of the Assembly must be in agreement with the Government.
Vote of confidence
Main article : Article 49 of the Constitution of the Fifth French Republic # The question of confidence (49 paragraph 1) .
First of all, the government can ask the vote on a question of confidence in the National Assembly (and only it) relating to a government program or to a general policy statement. The vote of confidence generally takes place after the formation of each government after the presentation by the Prime Minister to the deputies of the government action that will be taken. It is in a way the parliamentary confirmation of the appointment of a Prime Minister and his government. But the head of government can also ask for the vote on a question of confidence in order to unite the majority behind him and thus strengthen his legitimacy in a period of crisis of confidence: this was the case in particular for Jacques Chaban-Delmas ,Prime Minister of Georges Pompidou , theJune 23, 1972, to bypass a scandal linked to the publication of the head of governments tax sheet by the Chained Duck on January 19 of that same year. Although he largely obtained this confidence (368 votes against 96), Jacques Chaban-Delmas nevertheless resigned a few days later, theJuly 5, 19724 , 5 .
Since 1958, and at 1 st June 2017, there were 38 votes of confidence under this procedure 6 .
Motion of censure
Main article : Article 49 of the Constitution of the Fifth French Republic # The motion of censure (49 paragraph 2) .
The entrance to the National Assembly overlooking the street from the University at n o 126.
The deputies can table, as soon as the necessary quota of signatures is met to support it (namely those of at least one tenth of the members of the Assembly, that is today of 58 deputies), a motion of censure, also known as “Spontaneous motion of censure”. This must be voted by an absolute majority of all the deputies, ie at least 289 votes “for”, which alone are counted, the abstainers and those absent being considered as rejecting the motion, in order to avoid the vote. of a motion by a "simple majority" of only those present which was the cause of the fall of many governments during previous Republican regimes. In addition, the vote must take place at least 48 hours after the tabling of the motion and after debate, so that deputies do not react spontaneously and give them time to reflect. If the government is censored, thePrime Minister must submit his resignation to the President of the Republic , without however the latter being required to accept it. Responsible for the fall of many governments in the III E and IV E Republics , the censure motion was only passed once since 1958. But even if it has little chance of success, especially when the The majority in place is quite clear, the motion of censure is a tool particularly used by the opposition to mark its disagreement with the general policy of the government or against flagship measures of the latter.
Since 1958, and at 1 st June 2017, only one motion of censure was voted, on October 5, 1962Against the first Pompidou government to protest against the proposed constitutional amendments concerning the election of the President of the Republic in universal direct suffrage . The resignation of the government was however refused by Charles de Gaulle, President of the Republic who then decided to dissolve the Assembly 6 .
Commitment of responsibility for a text
Main article : Article 49 of the Constitution of the Fifth French Republic # The commitment of responsibility on a text (49 paragraph 3) .
The Government can have a bill adopted without a vote, without debate and without tabling an amendment directly related to this text. This provision is nicknamed "49-3" in reference to the article of the Constitution which established it. A motion of censure can however be filed against the government within 24 hours after calling 49-3 (this is then systematically filed by the opposition [ref. Necessary] ): if it is voted on, the text is rejected and the government, which engaged its responsibility on this bill, falls. This is also referred to as a “motion of censure provoked”.
It has been used 88 times since the creation of the V th Republic in 1958 7 .
Since 1 st March 2009- date of application of amendments to the 2008 Constitution - this provision is limited to the budget law , the law of financing social security , and more text per year.
This power is particularly criticized by opposition MPs. They consider it undemocratic 8 .
François Hollande , then in the opposition, denounced this article in 2006 during the law on equal opportunities 9 :
"A violation of the rights of Parliament, brutality, a denial of democracy, a way of slowing down or preventing mobilization" .
Its Prime Minister, Manuel Valls , will however use it in 2015 during the law relating to work, the modernization of social dialogue and the securing of professional careers .
Supporters of this provision argue that it is the best way to avoid parliamentary obstruction and debates considered too long on measures deemed urgent 10 .
Other means of control
The Parliament authorizes the declaration of war , it is informed of the intervention of the army abroad and authorizes its extension beyond four months C 10 ; it authorizes the extension beyond twelve days of the state of siege C 11 and the state of emergency 11 .
The Parliament authorizes the taking of ordinances by the Government, which are normally the domain of the law. They are taken by the Council of Ministers after consulting the Council of State . They come into force as soon as they are published, but lapse if the ratification bill is not tabled in Parliament before the date set by the enabling law C 12 .
The treaties are negotiated and ratified by the President of the Republic C. 13 . However, for most of them, ratification must be approved by Parliament C 14 . In the case of the ratification of a treaty relating to the accession of a State to the European Union , the first procedure is the referendum , but by the vote of a motion adopted in identical terms by each assembly by majority. of three-fifths, the Parliament can authorize the adoption of the bill of ratification by a vote of the parliamentarians meeting in Congress . In this case the text must obtain a majority of three fifths of the votes cast C 15 .
Each assembly can vote on resolutions indicating a wish or a concern, addressed to the Government, these must not call into question its responsibility or contain injunctions with regard to it C 16 , LO 1 . It can also do so on draft European acts C 17. The Conference of Presidents of the National Assembly can set up fact-finding missions 12 .
Questions
François Fillon , French Prime Minister from 2007 to 2012, answers the question of an elected member of the National Assembly, December 18, 2007.
Members of Parliament can publicly question members of government in several ways.
Written questions take place outside the meeting, the question as well as the ministers answer are published in the Official Journal . It is a very widely used procedure: from 3,700 written questions submitted in 1959 , it rose to 12,000 in 1994 and approximately 28,353 in 2011 13 . Faced with this excess, the Assembly debates in 2014 on limitation. Indeed, the 96% response rate during the term 1993 - 1997 drop to 68% and only a quarter of the questions is answered in the two months deadline 14 . The President of the National Assembly Claude Bartolone announces the June 22 , 2015 an annual limitation of the number of written questions to 52 per deputy from 1 st October 2015, until September 30 , 201615 . This limitation is perpetuated 16 . While most of the written questions are personal, some of them are suggested by different interest groups 16 . According to the regulations of the National Assembly in force in 2018, the responses of ministers must be published "within two months" of their publication. The group presidents of the Palais Bourbon then have the “faculty” to report to the Official Journal some of the unanswered questions to which the executive must then respond “within ten days” . However at1 st March 2018, the response rate was only 39% for senators and 42% for deputies 17 .
Oral questions are asked directly during the session, a distinction is made between “oral questions without debate N 1 ”, “ questions to the government ” created in 1974 18 (broadcast live on France 3 since 1982 and on LCP since October 2017) and “Questions to a minister” 13 .
Other prerogatives
The President of the Republic can have a message read which does not give rise to any debate and, since the modification of the Constitution of 2008 , can speak before the Parliament meeting in congress C 18 . The Parliament can dismiss the President of the Republic in the event of "breach of his duties manifestly incompatible with the exercise of his mandate". It is then constituted in High Court C 19 . Each chamber elects, after each general or partial renewal, six of the fifteen judges of the Court of Justice of the Republic , responsible for judging offenses committed by members of the Government during the exercise of their functions C 20 .
Parliament votes to revise the Constitution . In this case, unlike ordinary laws, the text must be voted on in identical terms by the two assemblies. The revision is then approved by referendum or, for bills only, by a vote of parliamentarians meeting in Congress . In this case the text must meet the majority of three fifths of the votes cast C 21 .
Each assembly can vote on resolutions on the modification of its own regulations, these must be submitted to the Constitutional Council C 6 .
Dissolution
Main article: Parliamentary dissolution (France) .
The President of the Republic can dissolve the National Assembly. This cannot be done more than once a year C 22 . It is not a measure to the France and many heads of state of Western democracy also have this right (and in Germany the Federal President Horst Köhler dissolved the Bundestag onJuly 21, 2005at the request of Chancellor Gerhard Schröder ). A dissolution automatically entails the holding of legislative elections which are then said to be "early".
Since 1958 and the 1 st July 2016 there were five dissolutions.
Charles de Gaulle dissolved the Assembly for the first time onOctober 10, 1962, after the adoption of a motion of censure against the Georges Pompidou government . The president prefers to immediately rename Georges Pompidou and dissolves the Assembly in order to have this conflict settled by the voters. This dissolution is followed by legislative elections which mark the victory of the Gaullists of the UNR-UDT and their independent Republican allies . He uses this right a second time, theMay 30, 1968, to resolve the crisis of May 68 . This dissolution led to early legislative elections marked by a strong victory for the Gaullists who alone obtained collection the absolute majority (293 elected out of 487 for the UDR ).
François Mitterrand dissolves the Assembly onMay 22, 1981, after his victory in the presidential election and to have a majority in the Assembly, which he will largely obtain in the legislative elections (the Socialist Party alone obtaining the absolute majority with 266 deputies out of 491). He does the sameMay 14, 1988, after his re-election and for the same reason, the victory of the left in the legislative elections was strong, but less than in 1981 (275 elected Socialists out of 575, allied to 41 elected from the Union du Center ).
Jacques Chirac dissolved the Assembly onApril 21, 1997, in order to anticipate legislative elections scheduled for a year later. Contrary to his wishes, it leads to the victory of the Socialists and their allies of the Plural Majority in the early legislative elections and the appointment of the Lionel Jospin government .
Organization of sessions and meetings
Related article: Conference of Presidents of the National Assembly .
Chamber of the National Assembly during the passage of a law in 2009.
Sessions
The periods of debates taking place in the hemicycle (which only represent part of a deputys work), called parliamentary sessions , exist under three categories:
the ordinary session being held from October to June C 23 . There were originally two ordinary sessions per year of three months each (respectively from October 2 to December 20 and from April 2 to June 30 , thus providing MPs with "winter" and "summer" holidays). This situation was strongly criticized by the former president of the Assembly Philippe Séguin who sponsored a reform in 1995. which then establishes a single annual session of at least 120 session days per year being established between the first working day of October and the last working day of June, each assembly then deciding as it sees fit on the weeks of session as well that of his meeting days and times.
the extraordinary session: outside the ordinary session, the Parliament can be convened in extraordinary session by decree of the President of the Republic and at the request of the Prime Minister or of the majority of the deputies, for twelve days at most C 24 . In recent years it was common to have an extraordinary session in July and September 19 .
full meetings: the Assembly meets automatically after dissolution (the second Thursday following the election of the new Assembly and for 15 days if the ordinary session is not open then) C 22 , during the application of the special powers of the Head of State C 25 or simply to hear an official message read from the President of the Republic C 18 .
Calendar
The calendar is organized in cycles of four weeks, as follows C 26 :
two weeks devoted to the examination of government texts,
a week devoted to the examination of the texts proposed by the deputies with a day reserved for the texts of a minority or opposition group,
one week of control.
Agenda
The public attends the sessions from the stands (photo: 2013).
The agenda is set by the Conference of Presidents of the National Assembly . The debates are organized in “sessions”. Over a week, the sessions are generally held as follows : 20
Tuesday
from 9.30 a.m. to 1 p.m., for oral questions without debate during the control weeks,
from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. (the 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. period is reserved for questions to the government),
from 9:30 p.m. to midnight at the latest;
Wednesday
from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.,
from 9:30 p.m. to midnight at the latest;
Thursday
from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.,
from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.,
from 9:30 p.m. to midnight at the latest.
When circumstances so require, the Government may request the opening of additional sitting days on Monday and Friday, days traditionally reserved for work in constituencies. In the case of Monday, the meeting opens at 4 p.m. at the earliest.
The meeting service prepares the agenda, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Relations with Parliament . The exchanges are permanent, in order to adapt, for example, the ministerial agenda to the parliamentary debate 21 .
Public sessions
The sessions of the National Assembly are public. It can sit in camera C 27 (which never happened under the V th Republic 22 ). It is possible to attend the debates from seats located above the hemicycle, it is necessary to have an invitation from a deputy 23 . They can also be watched in streaming on the Assemblys website or on the Parliamentary Channel . The reports are published in the Official Journal and on the website of the National Assembly.
Position players
Each deputy is assigned a place in hemicycle 24 . They are grouped together by political group, and more generally by “ left ” and “ right ” from the point of view of the speakers platform, itself located under the “perch” (commonly referred to as the location of the president of the country). Assembly). During the meeting, the deputies have nevertheless the right to move and sit in a place other than theirs (subject of course that it is not occupied by its owner).
Members of the government have access to the C 28 Assembly to defend their texts and their policies. They are installed on the lowest benches of the hemicycle. The rapporteur of a text and the minister concerned are accompanied respectively by administrators and government commissioners, who are seated on the bench immediately behind them, but who cannot intervene in the debate.
The public attends the sessions from the stands, which may, in whole or in part, be reserved for the press. In addition, the assistants of the session chairman, political advisers of groups and ministers and government commissioners can also follow the debates, either in the three places next to each entrance to the hemicycle, or on the balustrades above. of each entrance, called "puppets". Finally, all around the "perch" and near the entrances are places for certain administrators of the National Assembly and the ushers.
The "cemetery"
A platform, nicknamed "cemetery" , is specially reserved for former deputies 25 , 26 .
Presidency
The chairman of the session is assisted in the debates by the secretary general of the presidency of the National Assembly, who can be replaced by the director general of legislative services or the director of the session service. During legislative debates, it updates in real time the "presidents file" according to the abandonment or the addition of amendments at the last minute. He also advises the Chairman of the meeting in the event of a meeting incident or on an unusual procedural matter. He can sit on a small red seat nicknamed “mercy” right next to the presidents seat (“perch”) to advise him 21 .
Elections of Deputies
Related articles: French Deputy and Number of parliamentarians under the Fifth Republic .
Since 1958, the number of deputies has varied between 482 and 579. It has been set at 577 since the 1986 N 2 elections ; since the Constitutional Law of July 23, 2008 , this number is the limit set by the Constitution C 1 .
Eligibility conditions
The procedures for electing deputies are set out in the Electoral Code . This section has been applicable since the 2012 elections .
The essential conditions to stand for election are to hold French nationality , and to be at least 18 years old N 3 ; in addition: "No one can be elected if he does not justify having satisfied the obligations imposed by the code of the national service" 27 ; adults under tutorship or curatorship are ineligible LO 2 .
The mandate of deputy cannot be combined with that of senator , European deputy , member of the Government , of the Constitutional Council , of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council LO 3 .
The mandate of deputy is incompatible with the function of soldier, and with the exercise of more than one of the following mandates: regional councilor, adviser to the Corsican Assembly , general councilor, councilor of Paris, municipal councilor of a commune of at least 3,500 LO 4 inhabitants ; the defender of rights and the general comptroller of places of deprivation of liberty are ineligible for the duration of their functions LO 5 ; the Prefects are ineligible France in any constituency included.
FRANCE MINISTRE ROBERT PRIGENT ASSEMBLÉE NATIONALE SANTÉ 1946 collection NÉGATIFS ORIGINAUX
