France Government
The constitution of the Fifth Republic of October 4, 1958 (several times, most recently changed in 2008) is formally characterized by the fact that important regulations are left to constitutional laws, the “Lois organiques”, which are essentially in the first four months after the Constitution as statutory ordinances (ordonnances) issued by the government. In terms of content, the clear departure from the republican-parliamentary constitutional tradition of the Third and Fourth Republic towards a form of government that contains pronounced presidential elements and is strictly separated in terms of personnel in government and parliament is remarkable.
Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces is the President, who has extensive powers and is directly elected for 5 years (since 2002) and whose maximum term of office (since 2008) is limited to two mandates, i.e. 10 years (since 2017 Emmanuel Macron ). An absolute majority of the valid votes cast is required for election. If this is not achieved in the first ballot, there will be a runoff ballot between the two candidates with the most votes in the second ballot. The President appoints the Prime Minister and, on his proposal, the other members of the Government without the involvement of Parliament. He chairs the Council of Ministers and dismisses the Prime Minister if the Prime Minister offers to resign from the government; He dismisses individual members of the government on the proposal of the Prime Minister. Furthermore, the President (after consulting the Prime Minister and the Presidents of the National Assembly and Senate) can dissolve the National Assembly. He has a right of veto in the legislative process, exercises the right of grace and, in the event of a national emergency, can take “the measures necessary according to the circumstances” (emergency ordinance law). The constitutional reform of 2008 for the first time gives the president the right to deliver a kind of “State of the Union speech” in front of the two chambers of parliament Armed forces) circumcised; its official acts are subject to greater scrutiny by parliament. on the other hand, some of his previous rights (such as the appointment of persons to high government offices or sole decision-making authority over foreign missions of the armed forces) are curtailed; its official acts are subject to greater scrutiny by parliament. on the other hand, some of his previous rights (such as the appointment of persons to high government offices or sole decision-making authority over foreign missions of the armed forces) are curtailed; its official acts are subject to greater scrutiny by parliament.
The government (governorate) chaired by the Prime Minister in charge of Parliament (since 2020 Jean Castex ) consists of the ministers and the state secretaries appointed as members of the government. The precise delimitation of the powers of the president and government is practically determined by the personality of the president and prime minister; if the president and the parliamentary forces supporting the government belong to different political camps (“cohabitation”), the distribution of powers between the two bodies can become the subject of conflict. The President claims v. a. foreign and security policy as his “domains”. The government has its own right to legislate in areas that are not expressly subject to parliamentary legislation. According to the constitution, it is up to the government to determine and guide politics. The Prime Minister is responsible for national defense, ensures the implementation of the law, exercises the right to ordinance and appoints civil and military offices, unless the President is responsible for this. A certain dependence on parliament is given by the fact that the prime minister has to offer the president to resign if the national assembly expresses mistrust of the government or rejects a government declaration linked to the vote of confidence.
National symbols
According to TrackAAH, the national flag of France is the tricolor in blue, white and red. It was created during the French Revolution, when King Louis XVI. pinned the Parisian city colors (blue and red) on his white cockade. In the years that followed, this blue, red and white cockade was used to create flags with a changing arrangement of colors and stripes. Only under King Louis Philippe the current color sequence and arrangement in vertical stripes were defined in the constitution of 1830. – France is the only European country without a national coat of arms in the true sense of the word. The emblem (emblem) shown abroad and on international occasions shows on an oval blue shield in gold framed by the chain of the Legion of Honor, symbols of the French Revolution such as the Roman bundle of lictors in its republican version (hatchet tied into the bundle of staves), wrapped in the slogan » Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité «(freedom, equality, brotherhood) and surrounded by an olive and an oak branch.
The national holiday is July 14th. It commemorates the storming of the Bastille in 1789.
