Resolution 2512 (2023)1Provisional version

The honouring of membership obligations to the Council of Europe by France

Parliamentary Assembly

1. As a founding member, the host country and one of the four major contributors to the Council ofEurope, of which French is one of the two official languages, France has been very closely involved in thework of the Organisation from the outset and has ratified some 146 conventions.

2. In 2019, France was selected by the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments byMember States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee) for a periodic review report on its compliancewith the obligations imposed on every Council of Europe member State in the areas of democracy, rule of lawand human rights. The Monitoring Committee is responsible for periodically preparing monitoring reports oncompliance with the obligations of all member States which are not subject to specific monitoring procedures

3. France is a country with a longstanding democratic tradition which is committed to respect for humanrights. Political pluralism is guaranteed and freedom of association, which is a constitutional principle, enablescivil society organisations to play a very active role. Various independent administrative bodies play a key partin checks and balances. Human rights institutions do excellent work and are covered by a legislativeframework that protects them and respects their independence.

4. The constitution of the Fifth Republic established a semi-presidential system, which is unique inEurope. The uniqueness of the French system lies both in the position and role of the President of theRepublic, who is directly elected by the people and called on to play a central political role in all issuesaffecting the political life of the country, and also in the strict rules on the law-making and scrutiny powers ofthe two houses of parliament.

5. The functioning of democratic institutions has been marked by a succession of large-scale protestmovements, sometimes accompanied by demands of an institutional nature. Debate is under way on theseissues, focusing in particular on the introduction of direct or participatory democracy procedures such as joint-initiative or popular initiative referendums and citizens’ conferences, and the arrangements for the use of themeasures that enable the government to restrict the legislative process. Many citizens’ conferences havebeen held by the government on a very wide range of issues, producing proposals that have been debated inparliament. A draft constitutional reform tabled on 29 August 2019 including provisions on citizen participation,was not pursued, mainly because of the health crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lack of apolitical majority in favour of it. The idea of a fresh institutional reform has been put forward by the authoritiesand is currently the subject of consultation.

6. The Parliamentary Assembly is following with interest the experiments with participatory democracybeing conducted in France and their link with the mechanisms of representative democracy. The Assemblyrefers to the interim opinion issued by the European Commission for Democracy through Law (VeniceCommission) on Article 49.3 of the Constitution at the request of the Monitoring Committee, which found that

1. Assembly debate on 10 October 2023 (21st sitting) (see Doc. 15833, report of the Committee on the Honouring ofObligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee), co-rapporteurs:Ms Yelyzaveta Yasko and Ms Fiona O'Loughlin). Text adopted by the Assembly on 10 October 2023 (21st sitting).

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