Cabinet of France

France

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
France

Other countries · Atlas
Politics portal

The Cabinet of France (also called the Council of Ministers or the Executive Council, French: Conseil des Ministres [1]) is a body of top administration members of the Prime Minister's Cabinet. In French, the word gouvernement generally refers to the "Administration", but in a narrower sense to the Cabinet.

The Council is responsible to the French National Assembly. The National Assembly may choose to pass a motion of censure forcing the Council of Ministers to resign. This has the effect of forcing the Government to be drawn from the majority political party in the Assembly or to be allied to the majority in coalition. Ministers are required to answer written or oral questions put to them by members of Parliament, known as Government questions (questions au gouvernement). In addition, ministers attend sessions of the Parliament Houses when laws concerning their assigned sectors and departmental portfolios are under consideration.

Cabinet ministers cannot propose legislation without parliamentary approval, though the Prime Minister may under certain limits enact statutory instruments, known as orders-in-council (décret en Conseil des ministres), i.e., government orders with statutory force. Ministers can however propose bills to Parliament and any such legislation is generally very likely to pass. On occasion, the majority opinion in Parliament may differ significantly from those of the executive, resulting in a large number of riders.

Traditionally, Council members are subdivided into three levels:

The Cabinet plays a major role in determining the agenda of the Parliament Houses. It can propose laws and amendments during parliamentary sessions. It also has a number of procedures at its disposal to expedite parliamentary deliberations.

The Council of Ministers usually holds sessions on Wednesday mornings at the Élysée Palace and is chaired by the French President.

Contents

List of government ministers

Head of the Administration: the Prime Minister of France (Premier ministre).

The number and titles held by ministers and the division of duties and purviews between them varies from one Cabinet to the next.

Current ministerial positions (with their current titles)

Ministerial positions which no longer exist

[2]

Secretaries of State and Ministers during the Old Regime

See also

Government of François_Fillon (Third Cabinet) French

References

  1. ^ Conseils des Ministres
  2. ^ Created in 1998, and occupied by Nicole Péry, Secrétaire d’État à la formation professionnelle 1998≠2002, under Lionel Jospin Création du Secrétariat d’Etat aux Droits des Femmes. Le Collectif national pour les Droits des Femmes. lundi 23 novembre 1998
Cabinet of France
National cabinets of Europe
Sovereign
states
States with limited
recognition
Dependencies
and other territories
Other entities