Macron proposes modifying the Constitution and expanding the use of referendum

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, proposed this Wednesday a reform of the current Constitution, which, when it was approved in 1958, inaugurated the Fifth Republic and is now celebrating its 65th anniversary.. Since then it has not been touched, but in a speech to commemorate this date, Macron has proposed a modification of the text to be able to expand the use of the referendum, simplify the processes to carry out the popular consultation, and has also opened the door to a certain decentralization that of more capacity for action to the territories.

“I believe that the Constitution deserves to be reviewed when necessary, taking into account two major imperatives: to be consistent and coherent,” said Macron, who recalled that the modification of the constitutional text should not respond to “a stroke of emotion, to respond to a fashion”, but to “concrete needs”. This is why, Macron recalled, it has not been modified until now.

The president gave his speech at the headquarters of the Constitutional Council, a body created in 1958 to ensure the Magna Carta. What he proposes is to touch article 11, to expand the use of the referendum “in aspects that are important for the nation”. Macron's speech comes at a particular moment. The Government, which does not have a majority in Parliament, is about to present its Immigration Law, which at the moment does not have support in the seats. The right-wing and extreme-right parties had proposed that this issue could be submitted to consultation.

A few weeks ago, the president met all the opposition parties in Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris, to try to join forces and raised the possibility of resorting to a referendum on issues that are sensitive for the French.. In recent months, the president has been widely criticized for having approved his controversial pension reform through article 49.3 of the Constitution, which allows a text to be carried out without a parliamentary vote.. Almost the entire country opposed the reform and was accused of flouting democracy and not taking citizens into account.

With this idea of expanding consultations on key topics, try to change this image. Macron has also proposed simplifying the process to call a shared initiative referendum (RIP, in its French acronym), which allows organizing a popular consultation on a proposed law.. The problem is that the process is very complex, since it requires parliamentary support, then the collection of signatures from at least 10% of the voters, and then it must go through the chambers again.

This procedure, which was introduced in 2008, is so cumbersome that one has never been held. The last attempt was in spring, when Macron approved the pension reform. Then, the left-wing parties presented a referendum initiative to the Constitutional Council, but it did not approve it.

“More participatory” democracy

With his proposal to make this tool more flexible, Macron seeks “a more deliberative democracy that improves participation”, but he has warned: “I do not believe that a referendum should be held on what Parliament has already decided”, because “it would be a parallel decision-making system. He has warned that “we must avoid all confusion and preserve the form of representative democracy”, because, if not, the Republic “would weaken and lose its strength.”

The French president has also been in favor of giving more freedom to the territories and that “the specificities and singularities” of some of them be included in the Magna Carta. He refers to New Caledonia, which already has a special status, and to the island of Corsica, where he visited last week. There, he opened the door to giving a statute of autonomy and incorporating it into the Constitution.

“Our entire territorial architecture needs to be rethought,” said Macron, who has shown himself open to exploring “a new state of decentralization.”

Macron has also reiterated his desire to include in the Constitution the freedom of women to resort to voluntary termination of pregnancy as well as the protection of the environment.

The current Constitution opened the door to the Fifth Republic. It was approved on October 4, 1958, after having been voted in a referendum by 82% of French people.. Establishes that France is an “indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic”. It is, Macron recalled, a text “heir to the French Revolution”, which “allows regeneration, renewal and revolution.”