soon decibel sensors to measure the sound volume of debates in the hemicycle

Is the cauldron of the Assembly too noisy to work peacefully? Noise sensors will be installed in the hemicycle.

By the end of the parliamentary session on July 12, decibel sensors will be distributed throughout the aisles of the hemicycle to measure the hubbub, between howls, boos and the slamming of desks. It was Renaissance MP Robin Reda, also president of the National Noise Council, who requested it from the President of the Assembly Yaël Braun-Pivet, in 2023, to protect the hearing health of deputies, ministers and staff. Today he is therefore delighted, because “it’s a good way to make the cause of noise pollution audible”.

It must be said that the hemicycle is sometimes extremely noisy. During the examination of the pension reform, the connected watch of an MP panicked, displaying this message, “noisy environment: the sound level reaches 90 decibels”. Knowing that from 80 decibels it amounts to working next to a highway for several hours. Which can cause hearing problems, tinnitus, sleep problems, stress, etc.

Some MPs find “ridiculous” to install sensors, or fear that their low voices will be listened to in passing. An advisor wants to reassure those he describes as “conspirators”, that the sensors will only be for decibels. Some deputies find it an excellent idea, like a PS elected official indicating that, “sometimes we can’t hear the speakers”, to the point that an LR MP confided that he had to watch a replay of Élisabeth Borne’s first general policy speech, because at the time, he heard nothing of what she was saying.

A MoDem elected official admits that sometimes he shortens his presence because the noise is “intolerable”. The majority attributes the main responsibility to the Insoumis. “If a sensor is placed under the desk of certain LFI deputies, it explodes after two sessions”, even swings a left-wing parliamentary collaborator. Response of a rebel, “if they are really interested in noise pollution, they should start with the world of work because it ruins the lives of millions of employees!”

Measurements of the tumult in the hemicycle will allow us to see what is really going on. If there are too long slots with too many decibels, we will either have to calm down the chamber and tell everyone to lower their voice, or adjust the working time of the ushers.

These noise measurements are mainly “important for the agents, explains an advisor, because they spend long days locked in the hemicycle, the noise must be taken into account in their criteria of arduousness”. The presidency of the Assembly anticipates a sequence which promises to be particularly noisy, the autumn and its litany of 49.3 on the budget.