French Senate

The Senate (in French : le Sénat) is the upper house of the Parliament of France. A Sénat was also the upper house during the French Consulate of 1799-1804.

Powers

According to the French Constitution, the Senate has almost the same powers as the National Assembly. Bills may be submitted by the government ("projets de loi" or law projects) or by each house of the Parliament ("propositions de loi" or law proposals). Both houses must adopt the law before it can be promulgated.

Related Topics:
French Constitution - National Assembly

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Because both houses may amend the bill, it may take several readings to reach an agreement between the National Assembly and the Senate. When the Senate and the National Assembly cannot agree on a bill, the government can decide, after a complex procedure called commission mixte paritaire, to give the final decision to the National Assembly, which majority is normally on the government's side. This does not happen frequently: most of the time both houses eventually agree on the bill, or the government decides to withdraw it. However, this power gives the National Assembly a prominent role in the law-making process.

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The Senate also participates in controlling the government's action by publishing many reports every year on various topics.

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An important power of the Senate relates to the position of its chairman. The French constitution provides that, in case of a vacancy of the presidency of the republic, the chairman of the Senate becomes the interim president until a new one is elected.

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