President of France

The presidency of France was first publicly proposed during the July Revolution of 1830, when it was offered to the Marquis de Lafayette. He demurred in favour of Prince Louis Phillipe, who became King of the French. Eighteen years later, during the opening phases of the Second Republic, the title was created for a popularly elected head of state, the first of whom was Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte, nephew of Emperor Napoleon. Bonaparte served in that role until he staged an auto coup against the republic, proclaiming himself Napoleon III, Emperor of the French.

Under the Third Republic the president was at first quite powerful (mainly because the royalist party was strong when the constitutional laws of 1875 were established, and it was hoped that a member of one of the two branches of the royal family would be able to serve as president and turn France into a constitutional monarchy). However, the next legislature was dominated by Republicans, and after President Patrice de MacMahon had unsuccessfully tried to obtain a new royalist majority by dissolving the Chambre des Députés, his successor promised that he would not use his presidential power of dissolution, and therefore lost his control over the legislature, effectively creating a parliamentary system that would be maintained for 80 years. Indeed, when the Fourth Republic was created, after the Second World War, it was a parliamentary system, in which the office of president of the Republic was a largely ceremonial and powerless one. The Constitution of the Fifth Republic, that replaced it in 1958, 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 electoral college established in 1958.

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.

Since the referendum on the direct election of the president of the French Republic in 1962, the officeholder has been directly elected by universal suffrage; they were previously elected by an electoral college.

After the referendum in 2000 on the reduction of the mandate of the president of the French Republic, the length of the term was reduced to five years from the previous seven; the first election to a shorter term was held in 2002. President Jacques 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 of 2008 on the modernisation of the institutions of the Fifth Republic, 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 (known as parrainages, for "sponsors") from more than 500 elected local 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.[4] Furthermore, each official may nominate only one candidate.[5] 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) 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).[6] 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 using 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 a new president is elected, they go through a solemn investiture ceremony called a passation des pouvoirs ("handing over of powers").[7]

The French Fifth Republic is a semi-presidential system. Unlike many other European presidents, the French president is quite powerful. Although the prime minister of France, through their Government as well as the Parliament, oversees much of the nation's actual day-to-day affairs (especially in domestic issues), the French president wields significant influence and authority, especially in the fields of national security and foreign policy.

The president's greatest power is the 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 (It is nonetheless worth noting that, since 2002, the legislative elections are held a few weeks after the presidential, a majority supporting the president's party is therefore very likely to be obtained). They have also the duty of arbitrating the functioning of governmental authorities for efficient service, as the head of state of France.

• When the majority of the Assembly has opposite political views to that of the president, this leads to political cohabitation. In that case, the president's power is diminished, since much of the de facto power relies on a supportive prime minister and National Assembly, and is not directly attributed to the post of president.
• When the majority of the Assembly sides with them, the president can take a more active role and may, in effect, direct government policy. The prime minister is then the personal choice of the president, and can be easily replaced if the administration becomes unpopular. This device has been used in recent years by François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, and François Hollande.

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

• The president promulgates laws.
  • The president has a suspensive veto: when presented with a law, they can request another reading of it by Parliament, but only once per law.
  • The president may also refer the law for review to the Constitutional Council prior to promulgation.
• The president may dissolve the French National Assembly.
• The president may refer treaties or certain types of laws to popular referendum, within certain conditions (among them the agreement of the prime minister or the Parliament).
• The president is the chief of the Armed Forces.
• The president may order the use of nuclear weapons.
• The president names the prime minister. In theory, he cannot dismiss him, but at least some of the PM are known to have given an undated letter of resignation for themselves to the president upon taking office, and the president generally have a great influence over his PM. The president names and dismisses the other ministers, with the consent of the prime minister.
• The president names most officials (with the assent of the cabinet).
• The president names certain members of the Constitutional Council. (Former presidents are also members of this council)
• The president receives foreign ambassadors.
• The president may grant a pardon (but not an amnesty) to convicted criminals; the president can also lessen or suppress criminal sentences. This was of crucial importance when France still operated the death penalty: criminals sentenced to death would generally request that the president commute their sentence to life imprisonment.

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

Articles 67 and 68 organize the regime of criminal responsibility of the president. They were reformed by a 2007 constitutional act[9] in order to clarify a situation that previously resulted in legal controversies.[10]

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

The president is not deemed personally responsible for their actions in their official capacity, except where their actions are indicted before the International Criminal Court (France is a member of the ICC and the president is a French citizen as another following the Court's rules) or where impeachment is moved against them. Impeachment can be pronounced by the Republican High Court, a special court convened from both houses of Parliament on the proposal of either House, should the president have failed to discharge their duties in a way that evidently precludes the continuation of their term.

Alain Poher, Acting President of France in 1969 and 1974

Upon the death, removal, or resignation of the president, the Senate's president takes over as acting president.[11] Alain Poher is the only person to have served in this temporary position, and has done so twice: the first time in 1969 after Charles de Gaulle's resignation and a second time in 1974 after Georges Pompidou's death. In this situation, the president of the Senate becomes Acting President of the Republic; they do not become the new president of the Republic as elected and therefore do not have to resign from their position as President of the Senate. In spite of his title as Acting President of the Republic, Poher 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. 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 interim period, acting presidents are 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 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, who will act as President of the Republic.

During the Third French Republic the president of the Council of Ministers acted as president whenever the office was vacant.[12] 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,[13] 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.

During the Second French Republic, there was a vice president. The only person to ever hold the position was Henri Georges Boulay de la Meurthe.

Four French presidents have died in office:

• Marie François Sadi Carnot, who was assassinated by Sante Geronimo Caserio on 25 June 1894, aged 56.
• Félix Faure, who died on 16 February 1899, aged 58.
• Paul Doumer, who was assassinated by Paul Gorguloff on 7 May 1932, aged 75, the oldest to die in office.
• Georges Pompidou, who died on 2 April 1974, aged 62.

The Élysée Palace, principal residence of the President

The president of the Republic is paid a salary according to a pay grade defined in comparison to the pay grades of the most senior 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,[14] 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.[15] Using the 2008 "out of scale" pay grades,[16] it amounts to a monthly pay of 20,963 euros, which fits the 19,000 euros quoted to the press in early 2008.[17] Using the pay grades starting from 1 July 2009,[18] this amounts to a gross monthly pay of €21,131.

The salary and the residence stipend are taxable for income tax.[19]

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

• the Hôtel de Marigny, standing next to the Élysée Palace, houses foreign official guests;
• the Château de Rambouillet is normally open to visitors when not used for (rare) official meetings;
• the Domaine national de Marly is normally open to visitors when not used for (rare) official meetings;
• the Fort de Brégançon, in Southeastern France, is the official presidential vacation. In 2013, it became a national monument and is opened to the public some moments since 2014. The French president's private quarters there are still available for his use. La Lanterne became an official presidential vacation residence in 2007.

There are two living former French presidents:

According to French law, former presidents of the Republic have guaranteed lifetime pension defined according to the pay grade of the Councillors of State,[20] a courtesy diplomatic passport,[21] 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.[22] In 2008, according to an answer by the services of the prime minister to a question from René Dosière, a member of the National Assembly,[23] the facilities comprised: a security detail, a car with a chauffeur, first class train tickets and an office or housing space, as well as a two people who service the space. In addition, funds are available for seven permanent assistants.

President Hollande announced a reform of the system in 2016. Former presidents of France will no longer receive a car with chauffeur and the personnel in their living space was cut as well. Additionally, the number of assistants available for their use has been reduced, but a state flat or house remains available for former officeholders. Train tickets are also available if the trip is justified by the office of the former officeholder as part of official business. The security personnel around former presidents of France remained unchanged.[24]

The most recent president of the French Republic to die was Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (served 1974–1981), who died on 2 December 2020, aged 94.[25]

• List of French non-presidential heads of state by tenure
• List of presidents of France
• List of presidents of France by age
• List of presidents of France by longevity
• List of presidents of France by tenure

• How Powerful Is France's President? A primer from the Council on Foreign Relations
• John Gaffney. Political Leadership in France: From Charles de Gaulle to Nicolas Sarkozy (Palgrave Macmillan; 2012), ISBN 978-0-230-36037-2. Explores mythology and symbolism in French political culture through a study of the personas crafted by de Gaulle and his five successors.

• Official website