National Assembly

French parliament officially recognises Uyghur 'genocide'

International — Link

Members of the French parliamentary lower house, the National Assembly, have voted in favour of a resolution that recognises that Chinese government policies towards the country's Muslim Uyghur population constitutes 'crimes against humanity and genocide'. 

French lawmakers approve Covid health pass until July 2022

France — Link

France's health pass is currently required in places such as restaurants, bars and cinemas.

How French police are laying down the law to the Republic

France — Opinion

The French Republic should not be subject to the demands of the police. Yet this democratic principle is under challenge from the demonstration held by police officers on Wednesday, May 19th. Organisers of the protest in front of the National Assembly in Paris, which was supported by members of the current government, the far right and the two historic parties of the Left, are demanding minimum sentences for anyone found guilty of attacks on police officers. This undermines one of the key principles of the French Republic, that the police force is there to serve all citizens, and not to seek law changes in its own interest or the interests of the government of the day, argue Mediapart's publishing editor Edwy Plenel and political correspondent Ellen Salvi in this op-ed article.

French police stage protest in Paris against attacks on officers

France — Link

Interior minister Gérard Darmanin sparks controversy by attending to ‘show his support’ at protest outside France's National Assembly on Wednesday, held to demand minimum sentences for anyone attacking the police.

Draft law on climate change wins first hurdle in French parliament

France — Link

The French lower house, the National Assembly, on Tuesday approved draft legislation on new measures to tackle climate change, including bans on some domestic flights and the creation of a new 'ecocide' crime to punish polluters, before the bill, which Greenpeace called 'a lost opportunity', goes to the Senate.

Anger of the French MPs who turned their back on Macron

France

Since the Parliamentary elections held in 2017 around 30 Members of Parliament have deserted the ranks of Emmanuel Macron's ruling La République en Marche party. Some have joined other movements, a few have set up their own groups while others simply sit as independents. A year before the next presidential and Parliamentary elections, Mediapart's Ellen Salvi talked to some of these MPs about why they supported Emmanuel Macron in 2017 but are not prepared to do so in 2022.

French MPs start debating climate change bill in National Assembly

France — Link

The draft law - dismissed as inadequate by critics - contains work by 150 randomly-selected French citizens who made more than 100 proposals to fight global warming.

French parliamentarians back new law on age of sexual consent

France — Link

French members of France's lower house, the National Assembly, have voted in favour of draft legislation that fixes the minimum age at which a minor can be regarded as giving consent to sexual relations at 15, in the first stage of its parliamentary examination.

France to push pension reform through parliament by decree

France — Link

The decree avoids the need for a Parliamentary vote after the opposition filed more than 40,000 amendments to the draft law.

French lower house approves bio-ethics and domestic violence bills

France — Link

The French lower house, the National Assembly, on Tuesday approved a bill on bio-ethics which will notably allow fertility treatment for single women and lesbian couples, and also voted through draft legislation containing new measures to crack down on domestic violence, both of which must now be passed on for approval by the Senate. 

Truth behind former Macron minister's summer media campaign to clear his name

France — Investigation

A string of revelations from Mediapart about his lifestyle and use of public money led to the resignation of François de Rugy, environment minister and number two in the French government, on July 16th 2019. Since then the former minister has been on a PR offensive, helped by friends in the media, seeking to prove that his name has subsequently been “cleared” and that Mediapart's revelations had been “refuted”. This is obviously untrue. Fabrice Arfi, Michaël Hajdenberg, Antton Rouget and Marine Turchi look back over the facts of the case.

French government wants to cut number of MPs by a quarter

France — Link

Executive introduced a draft law that would reduce number of seats in the lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, from 577 to 433.

How political reality caught up with Macron over fate of his environment minister

France — Analysis

When the affair over environment minister François de Rugy's use of public money first broke, President Emmanuel Macron was determined to hold firm and keep his minister in government. He did not want to “give an inch” to Mediapart he was reported as saying, and initially insisted that unless and until a criminal investigation was opened his minister should stay. But in the end, because of the impact the story was having among the public, and despite the fact that there was little real prospect of legal proceedings being started, President Macron bowed to political reality – and de Rugy left the government. Ellen Salvi reports.

Petition against 'humiliating' slave fresco in French parliament

France — Link

An online petition is demanding the removal from the French lower house, the National Assembly, of a mural painting by French artist Hervé Di Rosa which commemorates the abolition of slavery with caricatural images of black people, and which the petition's organisers say "constitutes a humiliating and dehumanising insult to the millions of victims of slavery".

Juncker visit to French parliament canceled following riots

France — Link

Address by European Commission president cancelled to 'give priority' to a hearing on the 'gilets jaunes' protests that have swept across France.