President of France

President of the French Republic
Président de
la République française

Presidential emblem
Incumbent
François Hollande
since 15 May 2012
Style His Excellency[1]
Member of Council of Ministers
European Council
Residence Élysée Palace
Seat Paris, France
Term length Five years
Renewable once consecutively
Constituting instrument Constitution of the Fifth Republic
Formation 4 October 1958
First holder Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte
20 December 1848
Salary €178,923.722 (€14,910.31/month) [2]
Website www.elysee.fr
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The President of the French Republic (French: Président de la République française, French pronunciation: ​[pʁezidɑ̃ də la ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is the executive head of state of the French Fifth Republic. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the first minister and cabinets has over time differed with the various French constitutions.

The President of France is also the ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra, Grand Master of the Légion d'honneur and the Ordre national du Mérite and honorary proto-canon of the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome.

The current President of France is François Hollande, who took office on 15 May 2012.

Election

Further information: Elections in France

Since the Referendum on the Direct Election of the President of the French Republic in 1962, the President has been directly elected by universal suffrage; he or she was previously elected by an electoral college.

After the Referendum on the Reduction of the Mandate of the President of the French Republic, 2000, the length of the term was reduced from seven to five years; the first election to a shorter term was held in 2002. President Chirac was first elected in 1995 and again in 2002. At that time, there was no limit on the number of terms, so Chirac could have run again, but chose not to. He was succeeded by Nicolas Sarkozy on 16 May 2007.

Following a further change, the Constitutional law on the Modernisation of the Institutions of the Fifth Republic, 2008, a president cannot serve more than two consecutive terms. François Mitterrand and Jacques Chirac are the only Presidents to date who have served a full two terms (14 years for the former, 12 years for the latter).

In order to be admitted as an official candidate, potential candidates must receive signed nominations (informally known as parrainages, for "godfathering") from more than 500 elected officials, mostly mayors. These officials must be from at least 30 départements or overseas collectivities, and no more than 10% of them should be from the same département or collectivity.[3] Furthermore, each official may nominate only one candidate.[4] There are exactly 45,543 elected officials, including 33,872 mayors.

Spending and financing of campaigns and political parties are highly regulated. There is a cap on spending, at approximately 20 million euros, and government public financing of 50% of spending if the candidate scores more than 5%. If the candidate receives less than 5% of the vote, the government funds €8,000,000 to the party (€4,000,000 paid in advance).[5] Advertising on TV is forbidden but official time is given to candidates on public TV. An independent agency regulates election and party financing.

French presidential elections are conducted via run-off voting which ensures that the elected President always obtains a majority: if no candidate receives a majority of votes in the first round of voting, the two highest-scoring candidates arrive at a run-off. After the president is elected, he goes through a solemn investiture ceremony called a "passation des pouvoirs" ("handing over of powers").[6]

Powers

The French Fifth Republic is a semi-presidential system. Unlike many other European presidents, the French President is quite powerful. Although it is the Prime Minister of France and parliament that oversee much of the nation's actual day-to-day affairs, the French President wields significant influence and authority, especially in the fields of national security and foreign policy. The president holds the nation's most senior office, and outranks all other politicians.

The president's greatest power is his/her ability to choose the prime minister. However, since the French National Assembly has the sole power to dismiss the Prime Minister's government, the president is forced to name a prime minister who can command the support of a majority in the assembly.

Since 2002, the mandate of the president and the Assembly are both 5 years and the two elections are close to each other. Therefore, the likelihood of a "cohabitation" is lower. Among the powers of the government:

All decisions of the president must be countersigned by the prime minister, except dissolving the French National Assembly, choice of prime minister, dispositions of Article 19, .

Detailed constitutional powers

The constitutional attributions of the president are defined in Title II of the Constitution of France.

Article 5 The President of the Republic shall see that the Constitution is observed. He shall ensure, by his arbitration, the proper functioning of the public authorities and the continuity of the State. He shall be the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity and observance of treaties.

Article 8 The President of the Republic shall appoint the Prime Minister. He shall terminate the appointment of the Prime Minister when the latter tenders the resignation of the Government. On the proposal of the Prime Minister, he shall appoint the other members of the Government and terminate their appointments.

Article 9 The President of the Republic shall preside over the Council of Ministers.

Article 10 The President of the Republic shall promulgate Acts of Parliament within fifteen days following the final adoption of an Act and its transmission to the Government. He may, before the expiry of this time limit, ask Parliament to reconsider the Act or sections of the Act. Reconsideration shall not be refused.

While the president has to sign all acts adopted by parliament into law, he cannot refuse to do so and exercise a kind of right of veto; his only power in that matter is to ask for a single reconsideration of the law by parliament and this power is subject to countersigning by the Prime minister.

Article 11 The president could submit laws to the people in a referendum with advice and consent of the cabinet.

Article 12 The President of the Republic may, after consulting the Prime Minister and the Presidents of the assemblies, declare the National Assembly dissolved. A general election shall take place not less than twenty days and not more than forty days after the dissolution. The National Assembly shall convene as of right on the second Thursday following its election. Should it so convene outside the period prescribed for the ordinary session, a session shall be called by right for a fifteen-day period. No further dissolution shall take place within a year following this election.

Article 13 The President of the Republic shall sign the ordinances and decrees deliberated upon in the Council of Ministers. He shall make appointments to the civil and military posts of the State. [...]

Article 14 The President of the Republic shall accredit ambassadors and envoys extraordinary to foreign powers ; foreign ambassadors and envoys extraordinary shall be accredited to him.

Article 15 The President of the Republic shall be commander-in-chief of the armed forces. He shall preside over the higher national defence councils and committees.

Article 16 Where the institutions of the Republic, the independence of the Nation, the integrity of its territory or the fulfilment of its international commitments are under serious and immediate threat, and where the proper functioning of the constitutional public authorities is interrupted, the President of the Republic shall take the measures required by these circumstances, after formally consulting the Prime Minister, the Presidents of the assemblies and the Constitutional Council. He shall inform the Nation of these measures in a message. The measures must stem from the desire to provide the constitutional public authorities, in the shortest possible time, with the means to carry out their duties. The Constitutional Council shall be consulted with regard to such measures. Parliament shall convene as of right. The National Assembly shall not be dissolved during the exercise of the emergency powers.

Article 16, allowing the president a limited form of rule by decree for a limited period of time in exceptional circumstance, has been used only once, by Charles de Gaulle during the Algerian War, from 23 April to 29 September 1961.

Article 17 The President of the Republic has the right to grant pardon.

Article 18 The President of the Republic shall communicate with the two assemblies of Parliament by means of messages, which he shall cause to be read and which shall not be the occasion for any debate. He can also give an address in front of the Congress of France in Versailles. Outside sessions, Parliament shall be convened especially for this purpose.

From 1875 to 2008, the President was prohibited from entering the houses of Parliament.

Article 19 Acts of the President of the Republic, other than those provided for under articles 8 (first paragraph), 11, 12, 16, 18, 54, 56 and 61, shall be countersigned by the Prime Minister and, where required, by the appropriate ministers.

Article 49 Para 3 allows the president to adopt a law on his authority. To this end, the prime minister goes before the lower and upper houses, reads out the bill to the legislators and closes with "the administration engages its responsibility" on the foregoing. Deprived of Gaullist party support halfway into his seven-year term spanning 1974 to 1981, Pres. Valéry Giscard d'Estaing relied heavily on this provision to stalemate Paris Mayor Jacques Chirac's attempt to bring him back under Gaullist control.

Presidential amnesties

There is a tradition of so-called "presidential amnesties", which are something of a misnomer: after the election of a president, and of a National Assembly of the same party, parliament traditionally votes a law granting amnesty for some petty crimes. This practice has been increasingly criticized, particularly because it is believed to incite people to commit traffic offences in the months preceding the election. Such an amnesty law may also authorize the president to designate individuals who have committed certain categories of crimes to be offered amnesty, if certain conditions are met. Such individual measures have been criticized for the political patronage that they allow. Still, it is argued that such amnesty laws help reduce prison overpopulation. An amnesty law was passed in 2002; none have yet been passed as of January 2008.

The difference between an amnesty and a presidential pardon is that the former clears all subsequent effects of the sentencing, as though the crime had not been committed, while pardon simply relieves the sentenced individual from part or all of the remainder of the sentence.

Criminal responsibility and impeachment

Articles 67 and 68 organize the regime of criminal responsibility of the President. They were reformed by a 2007 constitutional act,[7] in order to clarify a situation that previously resulted in legal controversies.[8]

The President of the Republic enjoys immunity during his term: he cannot be requested to testify before any jurisdiction, he cannot be prosecuted, etc. However, the statute of limitation is suspended during his term, and enquiries and prosecutions can be restarted, at the latest one month after he leaves office.

The President is not deemed personally responsible for his actions in his official capacity, except where his actions are indicted before the International Criminal Court or where impeachment is moved against him. Impeachment can be pronounced by the High Court, a special court convened from both houses of Parliament on the proposal of either House, should the president have failed to discharge his duties in a way that evidently precludes the continuation of his term.

Succession and incapacity

Upon the death, removal, or resignation of the President, the President of the Senate takes over as acting president.[9] Alain Poher is the only person to have served in this temporary position twice. The first time was in 1969 after Charles de Gaulle's resignation and a second time in 1974 after Georges Pompidou's death. It is important to note that, in this situation, the President of the Senate becomes an Acting President of the Republic; He or she does not become the new President of the Republic as elected and therefore does not have to resign from his or her position as President of the Senate. In spite of his title as Acting President of the Republic, Poher is regarded in France as a former President and is listed in the presidents' gallery on the official presidential website. This is in contrast to acting presidents from the Third Republic.

The first round of a new presidential election must be organized no sooner than twenty days and no later than thirty-five days following the vacancy of the presidency. Because fifteen days can separate the first and second rounds of a presidential election, this means that the President of the Senate can only act as President of the Republic for a maximum period of fifty days. During this period of Interim president is not allowed to dismiss the national assembly nor are they allowed to call for a referendum or initiate any constitutional changes.

If there is no acting president of the senate, the powers of the president of the republic are exercised by the "Gouvernement", meaning the Cabinet. This has been interpreted by some constitutional academics as meaning first the Prime Minister and, if he is himself not able to act, the members of the cabinet in the order of the list of the decree that nominated them. This is in fact unlikely to happen, because if the president of the Senate is not able to act, the Senate will normally name a new president of the Senate, that will act as President of the Republic.

During the Third French Republic the President of the Council of Ministers acted as President whenever office was vacant.[10] According to article 7 of the Constitution, if the presidency becomes vacant for any reason, or if the president becomes incapacitated, upon the request of the gouvernement, the Constitutional Council may rule, by a majority vote,[11] that the presidency is to be temporarily assumed by the President of the Senate. If the Council rules that the incapacity is permanent, the same procedure as for the resignation is applied, as described above.

If the President cannot attend meetings, including meetings of the Council of Ministers, he can ask the Prime Minister to attend in his stead (Constitution, article 21). This clause has been applied by presidents travelling abroad, ill, or undergoing surgery.

Pay and official residences

The President of the Republic is paid a salary according to a pay grade defined in comparison to the pay grades of the most seniors members of the French Civil Service ("out of scale", hors échelle, those whose pay grades are known as letters and not as numeric indices). In addition he is paid a residence stipend of 3%, and a function stipend of 25% on top of the salary and residence indemnity. This gross salary and these indemnities are the same as those of the Prime Minister, and are 50% higher than the highest paid to other members of the government,[12] which is itself defined as twice the average of the highest (pay grade G) and the lowest (pay grade A1) salaries in the "out of scale" pay grades.[13] Using the 2008 "out of scale" pay grades[14] this amounts to a monthly pay of 20,963 €, which fits the 19,000 € quoted to the press in early 2008.[15] Using the pay grades starting from 1 July 2009,[16] this amounts to a gross monthly pay of 21,131 €.

The salary and the residence stipend are taxable for income tax.[17]

The official residence and office of the president is the Élysée Palace in Paris. Other presidential residences include:

2012 election

 Summary of the 21–22 April and 5–6 May 2012 French presidential election result
Candidate Party 1st round 2nd round
Votes % Votes %
François Hollande Socialist Party & Radical Party of the Left (Parti socialiste - Parti radical de gauche) PS / PRG 10,272,705 28.63% 18,000,668 51.64%
Nicolas Sarkozy Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un mouvement populaire) UMP 9,753,629 27.18% 16,860,685 48.36%
Marine Le Pen National Front (Front national) FN 6,421,426 17.90%
Jean-Luc Mélenchon Left Front (Front de gauche) FG 3,984,822 11.10%
François Bayrou Democratic Movement (Mouvement démocrate) MoDem 3,275,122 9.13%
Eva Joly Europe Écologie–The Greens (Europe Écologie–Les Verts) EELV 828,345 2.31%
Nicolas Dupont-Aignan Arise the Republic (Debout la République) DLR 643,907 1.79%
Philippe Poutou New Anticapitalist Party (Nouveau Parti anticapitaliste) NPA 411,160 1.15%
Nathalie Arthaud Workers' Struggle (Lutte ouvrière) LO 202,548 0.56%
Jacques Cheminade Solidarity and Progress (Solidarité et Progrès) SP 89,545 0.25%
Total 35,883,209 100% 34,861,353 100%
Valid votes 35,883,209 98.08% 34,861,353 94.18%
Spoilt and null votes 701,190 1.92% 2,154,956 5.82%
Turnout 36,584,399 79.48% 37,016,309 80.35%
Abstentions 9,444,143 20.52% 9,049,998 19.65%
Registered voters 46,028,542 46,066,307
Table of results ordered by number of votes received in first round. Official results by Constitutional Council of France.

Source: List of candidates · First round result · Second round result

Former Presidents

Further information: List of Presidents of France

As of February 2016, there are three living former Presidents:

NameTerm of officeDate of birth
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing 1974–1981 2 February 1926
Jacques Chirac 1995–2007 29 November 1932
Nicolas Sarkozy 2007–2012 28 January 1955

According to French law, Former Presidents have guaranteed lifetime pension defined according to the pay grade of the Councillors of State,[18] a courtesy diplomatic passport,[19] and, according to the French Constitution (Article 56), membership of the Constitutional Council.

They also get personnel, an apartment and/or office, and other amenities, though the legal basis for these is disputed.[20] In 2008, according to an answer by the services of the Prime Minister to a question from member of the National Assembly René Dosière,[21] these facilities comprised: a security detail, a car with a chauffeur, office or housing space, maintained by the State. Two people service this space. In addition, the State funds 7 permanent collaborators.

Age upon entering and leaving office

N°PresidentAge upon
entering office		Age upon
leaving office
1 Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte 4044
2 Adolphe Thiers 7476
3 Maréchal Patrice de Mac-Mahon 6470
4 Jules Grévy 7180
5 Marie François Sadi Carnot 5056
6 Jean Casimir-Perier 4647
7 Félix Faure 5358
8 Émile Loubet 6067
9 Armand Fallières 6471
10 Raymond Poincaré 5259
11 Paul Deschanel 6565
12 Alexandre Millerand 6165
13 Gaston Doumergue 6067
14 Paul Doumer 7475
15 Albert François Lebrun 6068
16 Vincent Auriol 6269
17 René Coty 7176
18 Charles de Gaulle 6878
19 Georges Pompidou 5762
20 Valéry Giscard d'Estaing 4855
21 François Mitterrand 6478
22 Jacques Chirac 6274
23 Nicolas Sarkozy 5257
24 François Hollande 57 Incumbent

Time in office

N°PresidentLength
in days		Rank Notes
21 François Mitterrand 5109 1 Served two full terms of seven years.
22 Jacques Chirac 4382 2 Served one full term of seven years and one full term of five years.
18 Charles de Gaulle 3763 3 Served one full term of seven years and resigned during second term.
4 Jules Grévy 3228 4 Served one full term of seven years and resigned during second term.
15 Albert Lebrun 2983 5 Served one full term of seven years and was replaced by Marshal Philippe Pétain during second term.
8 Émile Loubet 2556 6 Served one full term of seven years.
9 Armand Fallières 2557 7 Served one full term of seven years.
10 Raymond Poincaré 2556 8 Served one full term of seven years.
13 Gaston Doumergue 2556 9 Served one full term of seven years.
16 Vincent Auriol 2557 10 Served one full term of seven years.
20 Valéry Giscard d'Estaing 2551 11 Served one full term of seven years.
5 Sadi Carnot 2396 12 Served less than one full term of seven years (assassinated).
3 Patrice de Mac-Mahon 2077 13 Served less than one full term of seven years (resigned).
23 Nicolas Sarkozy 1826 14 Served one full term of five years.
17 René Coty 1818 15 Served less than one full term of seven years (end of the Fourth Republic).
19 Georges Pompidou 1747 16 Served less than one full term of seven years (died in office).
7 Félix Faure 1491 17 Served less than one full term of seven years (died in office).
1 Prince Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte 1443 18 Served less than one full term of four years (end of the Second Republic, proclaimed himself as Emperor).
12 Alexandre Millerand 1357 19 Served less than one full term of seven years (resigned).
2 Adolphe Thiers 632 20 Served less than one full term of seven years (resigned).
14 Paul Doumer 329 21 Served less than one full term of seven years (assassinated).
11 Paul Deschanel 216 22 Served less than one full term of seven years (resigned).
6 Jean Casimir-Perier 203 23 Served less than one full term of seven years (resigned).

Interim President

  1. Alain Poher – as President of the Senate was called on to serve as Interim President of France in April–June 1969 and April–May 1974

Non-Presidential Heads of State

  1. Jacques-Charles Dupont de l'Eure, Chairman of the Provisional Government and de facto head of state in 1848 : served less than three months
  2. Executive Commission: joint head of state with five co-presidents in 1848 : served less than two months. François Arago was its most prominent member.
  3. Louis-Eugène Cavaignac, head of government and de facto head of state in 1848 : served about six months
  4. Louis Jules Trochu, President of the Government of National Defense and de facto head of state (served 4 months, September 1870 to January 1871)
  5. Philippe Pétain, Chief of State of Vichy France: served four years (considered an illegal usurper by later governments[22])
  6. Charles de Gaulle, First President of the 1944-46 Provisional Government: served over one and a half years
  7. Félix Gouin, Second President of the Provisional Government: served five months
  8. Georges Bidault, Third President of the Provisional Government: served five months
  9. Léon Blum, Fourth President of the Provisional Government: served one month

History

Under the Third and Fourth Republic, which were parliamentary systems, the office of President of the Republic was a largely ceremonial and powerless one.

The constitution of the Fifth Republic greatly increased the President's powers. A 1962 referendum changed the constitution, so that the President would be directly elected by universal suffrage and not by the Parliament.

In 2000, a referendum shortened the presidential term from seven years to five years.

A maximum of two consecutive terms was imposed after the 2008 constitutional reform.

See also

References

  1. ↑ United Nations Heads of State Protocol and Liaison Service Heads of Government - Public List Ministers For Foreign Affairs
  2. ↑ Président de la République : 14 910 € bruts par mois, Le Journal Du Net
  3. ↑ Loi no</sup> 62-1292 du 6 novembre 1962 relative à l'élection du Président de la République au suffrage universel, article 4.
  4. ↑ Décret no</sup> 2001-213 du 8 novembre 2001 portant application de la loi no</sup> 62-1292 du 6 novembre 1962 relative à l'élection du Président de la République au suffrage universel, article 6.
  5. ↑ Dépenses de campagne: énorme ardoise pour LO, la LCR s'en tire sans déficit, Metro France, 24 April 2007 (French)
  6. ↑ http://www.elysee.fr/junior/faq/faq.htm#5
  7. ↑ Loi constitutionnelle no</sup> 2007-238 du 23 février 2007 portant modification du titre IX de la Constitution (in French).
  8. ↑ For all this section, see Articles 67 and 68 and La responsabilité pénale du président de la République, Revue française de droit constitutionnel, n° 49 –2002/1, P.U.F., ISBN 978-2-13-052789-3
  9. ↑ The exact title is "President of the Senate, exercising provisionally the functions of the President of the Republic"; see how Alain Poher is referred to on signing statutes into law, e.g. law 69-412
  10. ↑ Loi no</sup> du 25 février 1875 relative à l'organisation des pouvoirs publics, article 7: "In case of a vacancy due to a decease or for any cause, the two houses of Parliament elect a new president. In the meantime, the executive power is vested in the council of ministers."
  11. ↑ Ordonnance no 58-1067 du 7 novembre 1958 portant loi organique sur le Conseil constitutionnel (in French).
  12. ↑ Loi no</sup> 2002-1050 du 6 août 2002 de finances rectificative pour 2002 as amended.
  13. ↑ Décret no</sup> 2002-1058 du 6 août 2002 relatif au traitement des membres du Gouvernement, article 1 (in French).
  14. ↑ Grille de salaires de la fonction publique,
  15. ↑ Le salaire du Premier ministre a doublé depuis 2002, citing an interview given by Nicolas Sarkozy to Le Parisien
  16. ↑ Décret no</sup> 2009-824 du 3 juillet 2009 portant majoration à compter du 1er</sup> juillet 2009 de la rémunération des personnels civils et militaires de l'État, des personnels des collectivités territoriales et des établissements publics d'hospitalisation et portant attribution de points d'indice majoré (in French).
  17. ↑ "General tax code, art. 80 undecies A" (in French). Legifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 2011-06-09.
  18. ↑ Loi no</sup> 55-366 du 3 avril 1955 relative au développement des crédits affectés aux dépenses du ministère des finances et des affaires économiques pour l'exercice 1955.
  19. ↑ Arrêté du 11 février 2009 relatif au passeport diplomatique, article 1.
  20. ↑ The current system for providing personnel and other amenities to the former French presidents was devised in 1981 by Michel Charasse, then advisor to president François Mitterrand, in order to care for former president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and the widow of former president Georges Pompidou. See Senate, 19 June 2008 Proceedings
  21. ↑ Question #140, answer published in the Journal Officiel de la République Française on 24 June 2008 page: 5368
  22. ↑ Ordonnance du 21 avril 1944 relative à l'organisation des pouvoirs publics en France après la Libération ("Ordinance of 21 April 1944 relative to the organization of public powers in France after the Liberation"), from the Provisional government: see reference to l'usurpateur ("the usurper")

Further reading

External links

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