The President of the Republic spoke to the Constitutional Council on Wednesday, praising the stability of the Fifth Republic while outlining avenues for reform.
“A particularly important event.” This is how the Elysée described the speech – which it “matured” – of the President of the Republic on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Constitution of the Fifth Republic. Emmanuel Macron finally announced, Wednesday October 4 to the Constitutional Council, that he wanted to lead “at its end” THE “construction site” broadening the scope of the referendum, simplifying the use of shared initiative referendums but also opening “a new stage of decentralization”.
>> Constitutional reform: follow the reactions to Emmanuel Macron’s speech
During his first five-year term, the President of the Republic failed to bring about a reform which planned to introduce a dose of proportionalism in the election of deputies, to reduce the number of parliamentarians and to limit the number of their mandates to three consecutive. Will he achieve this during this second term when he only has a relative majority in the National Assembly? Response in the coming months. Franceinfo summarizes what to remember from the declarations of the Head of State.
An ode to the Constitution “the most stable in our history”
For many minutes, the President of the Republic praised the Constitution of the Fifth Republic, in force since October 4, 1958. This fundamental law, “the most stable in our history”, “is obvious” and U.S “will enable us to meet the challenges of our time”assured Emmanuel Macron. “This Constitution allows us to cut all the Gordian knots that are before us”, continued the Head of State, while insisting on the fact that he would not be “not in France’s interest to change Republic”.
A direct allusion to the long-standing proposal of part of the left, notably La France insoumise by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, which campaigns for a Sixth Republic. “I believe that our Constitution must be revised when necessary (…) We do not revise the Constitution out of emotion, for the beauty of the gesture”he insisted.
Nevertheless, “preserving the Constitution does not mean freezing it, it requires taking action”continued the President of the Republic. “Our Constitution deserves to be revised when necessary”he added, setting out two objectives: “Be consistent and consistent”.
Extend the scope of the referendum
First announcement from the Head of State: the extension of the referendum field, provided for in Article 11 of the Constitution. Currently, this provides that the referendum only concerns “the organization of public authorities, on reforms relating to the economic or social 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 repercussions on the functioning of the institutions”. However, the right and the far right have been pleading for many weeks to open the referendum field to the question of immigration.
“There are important areas that fall outside the scope of Article 11recognized Emmanuel Macron. I opened this site in Saint-Denis [lors d’une rencontre entre le chef de l’Etat et les représentants des partis politiques]I hope that we can collectively find the means to complete this project.” The head of state, however, did not specify the areas to which he wishes to extend the referendum.
Simplify the use of the shared initiative referendum
The Head of State also spoke out on the shared initiative referendum (RIP) which allows parliamentarians and citizens to join together to demand that a consultation of the population be held. In detail, the system provides for several stages and sets demanding conditions. Restrictions that can be “discouraging”, even, according to the admission of the President of the Constitutional Council, Laurent Fabius, who spoke on Wednesday before Emmanuel Macron. Since the creation of the RIP in 2015, no attempt has been successful.
Emmanuel Macron recognized that the procedure was “excessively restrictive” and that it needed to be simplified. “Its implementation must be simpler”, he insisted. He also assured that he wanted to learn lessons from the resentment of the French who, after saying “no” to the referendum establishing a Constitution for Europe in 2005, had seen some of the measures translated into the Treaty of Lisbon in 2007. “We must avoid any form of confusion and preserve the strength of our representative democracy and the strength of our direct democracy.said Emmanuel Macron.
Open “a new stage of decentralization”
Emmanuel Macron also promised to open “the construction site of a new stage of decentralization”For “give more freedoms but also responsibilities” to local elected officials in order to “help them act better”. “Our entire territorial architecture needs to be rethought”, estimated the President of the Republic, judging that “encroachment” even “competition” between local authorities and the State “product of inefficiency for public action” and an “loss of points of reference for our fellow citizens”.
The Head of State mentioned the case of New Caledonia, which “requires a common path that will require constitutional reform.” THE July 26, during a speech in Nouméa, Emmanuel Macron had already said to want, “early 2024”a “revision of the Constitution” for this territory, evoking in particular the thawing of the electorate in the short term thanks to a “new status”.
Another community concerned: Corsica, which “opens the way to a form of autonomy in the Republic. On September 28, before the Corsican Assembly in Ajaccio, Emmanuel Macron proposed that“a new stage has been reached” with “the entrance to Corsica” in the French Constitution. He gave “six months” to agree on a “constitutional text”. “All of our overseas territories must be better recognized in our Constitution”, also pleaded the head of state.
The inclusion of abortion in the Constitution “as soon as possible”
It is a subject that has agitated parliamentary forces but also associations for many months: the inclusion of voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) in the Constitution. “I expressed my wish, on March 8, that we could find a text agreeing the points of view between the National Assembly and the Senate and allowing a Congress to be convened in Versailles”underlined the head of state. “I hope that this work of bringing together points of view will resume and be completed as soon as possible”he added.
Emmanuel Macron had in fact announced at the beginning of the year his desire to include in the Constitution the “freedom” to resort to abortion, as part of its future institutional reform. “The progress resulting from the parliamentary debates, at the initiative of the National Assembly and then informed by the Senate, will, I hope, make it possible to include this freedom in our fundamental text within the framework of the bill revising our Constitution , which will be prepared in the coming months”declared the Head of State from the Paris courthouse.
The National Assembly and the Senate must now adopt in identical terms a specific constitutional law proposal on abortion. There is therefore still a long way to go on this subject.