Article 12 of the Constitution provides that the examination of all bills and proposed laws, as well as commissions of inquiry, are suspended in the event of dissolution. Their possible resumption will depend on the result of the next legislative elections.
Weeks of work for nothing? After the announcement of the dissolution of the National Assembly by Emmanuel Macron, Sunday June 9, all parliamentary work in progress at the Palais-Bourbon is at a standstill. The projects and legislative proposals currently under examination, as well as the work of the commissions of inquiry, are suspended pending the new legislative elections, scheduled for June 30 and July 7.
For these files to be examined again, they will have to be put back on the agenda after the election, “if the [nouveau] government” or the new majority “[décident] to preserve them, which is not an obligation”, specifies constitutionalist Jean-Philippe Derosier to franceinfo. The texts examined in the Senate, however, continue their legislative path. If they have already passed the first reading in the National Assembly, “they will go to second reading with the new Assembly, or in a joint committee”, once the new deputies are elected. Here are the main files affected by this twist which followed the results of the European elections.
The end of life bill
“I am sad to see the end-of-life law suddenly stopped”, lamented on Olivier Falorni (MoDem and independent), the general rapporteur of this bill currently under examination. After two weeks of debate in the hemicycle, the deputies reached the examination of article 7 of the text, recalls LCP. The solemn vote was to take place on Tuesday. Due to the dissolution of the Assembly, the examination of the text is considered void. “For once, we had a half-open door. For once, Parliament took up this essential law which concerns 100% of French people. While the law was going to succeed, unfortunately this dissolution of the Assembly blocks the process“lamented Monday on France Inter Denis Labayle, doctor and co-president of the Le Choix association.
In its latest version, the text contained, among other things, palliative care guaranteed by enforceable law, “support homes” for the sick and the legalization of assistance in dying. The deputies had just voted to reintroduce the condition of a “committed” vital prognosis of the patient.
The bill on unfreezing the electoral body in New Caledonia
At the origin of the crisis which has hit the “Caillou” for a month, the constitutional bill aimed at modifying the New Caledonian electorate has also been put on hold. Emmanuel Macron had already slowed down the legislative process of the text during his visit to the archipelago on May 23, announcing that there would be no “forceful passage”. He said he was open to submitting the text to a referendum.
One of the two Caledonian deputies in the Assembly, Nicolas Metzdorf (Renaissance), in favor of the electoral thaw, said he was worried about the future of the text. “Marine Le Pen called for a new referendum and said that the timetable for thawing the electorate was not the right one, he recalls. If the National Rally were to have a majority today in the Assembly, it would be a little more difficult than today.”
The bill relating to the development of the supply of affordable housing
This bill was presented to the Council of Ministers on May 3 by Christophe Béchu, the Minister of Ecological Transition, and Guillaume Kasbarian, Minister Delegate in charge of Housing. His goal is “to produce more affordable housing for the French, whether for rental or ownership, by giving elected officials and landlords new tools”, recalls the Public Life site. In particular, he proposes to integrate, in certain cases, intermediate housing into the social housing quotas set by the SRU law, and to give more power to mayors to allocate new social housing.
Criticized by HLM tenant associations, the project was adopted in committee by senators on June 6. It was to be examined at the Palais-Bourbon from June 18, recalls BFMTV. This reading will therefore not take place.
The bill against unemployment insurance reform
Thursday, during its parliamentary initiative day, the Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories (Liot) group planned to present a bill against the reform of unemployment insurance. The deputies thus intended to denounce the new tightening of the rules announced at the end of May by the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal. This opposition text will therefore not be presented.
As for the unemployment insurance reform, which was to be ratified by decrees, its future will depend on the future majority in the Assembly and the government. Already, the vice-president of the RN, Sébastien Chenu, declared on BFMTV that his party had “stop” to this reform: “We prefer to move towards efficiency, towards change and meeting the expectations of the French.” And this while his party appears to be the favorite in the legislative elections after its large victory in the European elections.
The proposed law relating to the reform of public broadcasting
This text, voted on in June 2023 in the Senate, was brought to light in early 2024 by the executive. Largely reworked in committee, it provided that public audiovisual companies (France Télévisions, Radio France, INA, even France Médias Monde) be grouped into a holding company called France Médias, on January 1, 2025, then merged one year later. A project on which the directions of the different entities are shared. On the other hand, the sector’s unions are all opposed to it. This reform was supported by the right and the far right in Parliament. The left was opposed to it. The examination of the text in the Assembly, delayed due to longer-than-expected discussions on the agricultural orientation bill, was to begin on June 24.
The commission of inquiry into violence in cinema
The creation of the commission of inquiry relating to violence, particularly sexual, committed in the cinema, audiovisual, live performance, fashion and advertising sectors was requested by the actress Judith Godrèche, who became the one of the figures of the #MeToo Cinema movement in France. Launched in May, this commission was to hear professionals and witnesses for six months to “try to identify the mechanisms and failures which lead to the incriminated facts”had explained on France Bleu Berry the Renaissance deputy of Cher, François Cormier-Bouligeon?
A meeting of the commission was to take place at 2:30 p.m. Monday at the Palais-Bourbon, underlines the Assembly website. Actress Anna Mouglalis was to be heard on Tuesday. These meetings will therefore not take place. At the end of their interviews, the commissions of inquiry can write reports, but their role remains consultative and their recommendations are not binding.
The commission of inquiry into child protection
Created on April 9, this commission of inquiry had the mission of “to identify current shortcomings in child welfare policy, to target failures in the governance of this policy and to make recommendations on legislative responses”, recalls the National Assembly website. She had to submit a report no later than October 8.
“We have not only lost the commission of inquiry into the ASE, but also the delegation for children’s rights of the National Assembly”, lamented on X Lyes Louffok, childhood rights activist. On this same social network, the Vigilance Committee for Placed Children, created by those primarily concerned to oversee the work of this commission, said “deeply shocked” by the end of this instance: “His work had already made it possible to collect valuable testimony and highlight serious failings.”
The commission of inquiry into the A69 motorway project
The commission of inquiry into the legal and financial arrangement of the contested A69 motorway project was created in February. Its objective is “to clarify the existing links between the concessionary company Atosca and certain political leaders, members of government or local elected officials, as well as the legal and financial arrangement of this motorway project”, underlines the National Assembly website. In this context, former Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne was to be heard on Wednesday.
This motorway project which is to connect Castres (Tarn) to Toulouse (Haute-Garonne), defended by many economic players in the region, is contested by environmentalists and scientists. They denounce, among other things, the ecological weight of the materials necessary for the construction of this road, the thousands of vehicles and heavy goods vehicles expected, and the artificialization of part of the 300 hectares over which this road will extend. Complaints for environmental damage have been filed.