What is happening in France and why the protests are once again putting Macron on the ropes

The dissolution of the National Assembly in France is a mechanism provided for by the Constitution of the Fifth Republic (Article 12) that allows the President of the Republic to prematurely end the term of the lower house and call new legislative elections. It is a powerful political tool, designed to unblock institutional crises or rebalance parliamentary majorities, and has direct effects on the ongoing legislative process.

1. Who can dissolve and under what conditions?

Only the President of the Republic can dissolve the National Assembly. It is not a power of the Government nor of the Assembly itself. To exercise it, a relatively simple formal procedure must be followed but with several safeguards:

• Mandatory prior consultation: before decreeing dissolution, the president must consult the Prime Minister and the presidents of both chambers (National Assembly and Senate). This consultation is mandatory but not binding: they may oppose it and yet the president can proceed.
• Time limit: the president cannot dissolve the Assembly again within one year following a previous dissolution. This "cooling-off period" aims to prevent abusive or repetitive use of the power.
• Dissolution decree: the decision is formalized by a presidential decree, countersigned by the Prime Minister, which is published in the Official Journal.

Unlike other systems, the French Constitution does not require a specific legal cause (such as the inability to approve budgets); it is a discretionary power of the president, used with essentially political criteria.

2. Electoral calendar after dissolution

Article 12 requires legislative elections to be organized within a relatively short period:

• Elections must be held between 20 and 40 days after dissolution.
• The new National Assembly convenes by right on the second Thursday following its election. If this meeting takes place outside the ordinary session period, an extraordinary session automatically opens.

This compressed schedule aims to minimize the political vacuum: the chamber dissolves but is quickly renewed and resumes parliamentary activity.

3. Immediate effects on the legislative process

Dissolution directly affects ongoing legislative work:

• End of deputies' mandate: from the entry into force of the dissolution decree, deputies cease their legislative functions. They retain their status for practical purposes until the election of the new Assembly, but the chamber stops deliberating.
• Interruption of debates and votes: all debates in the chamber and committees stop. No new law can be adopted during the dissolution period, except through Executive tools (such as ordinances, under prior legal authorization).
• Expiry of many texts in process: with the new legislature, in principle initiatives not definitively approved lapse, unless reintroduced. The Government or deputies can resume similar texts but must start a new procedure.

In practice, this means that a dissolution amid complex negotiations (for example, on a major labor or pension reform) abruptly cuts off the process. The new balance of forces after the elections will determine whether the same project is resumed, modified, or abandoned.

4. Role of the Government and Senate during dissolution

Dissolution of the Assembly does not automatically imply the fall of the Government, although politically it is usually linked to a crisis between the president, Government, and parliamentary majority. During the dissolution period:

• The Government remains in office and exercises regulatory power, being able, in certain cases, to legislate by ordinances if it already had parliamentary authorization prior to dissolution.
• The Senate is not dissolved, it continues to exist and can perform limited political control tasks, but without the Assembly there is no complete ordinary legislative procedure, as the involvement of both chambers is required.

5. Political and legislative implications in depth

Beyond technical effects, dissolution has profound consequences for the legislative process:

• Reconfiguration of majorities: new elections can give the president a more sympathetic majority or, conversely, generate a "cohabitation" with an adverse majority. This determines the ease of advancing the legislative agenda.
• Risk of deadlock: if the result does not clarify the political map, the use of instruments such as Article 49.3 (approval of laws without vote, except by motion of no confidence) or ordinances may increase, shifting part of normative production to the Executive.
• Restart of priorities: a new Assembly, with new groups and committees, may sideline reforms that were advanced and prioritize others, practically altering the country's legislative roadmap.

In summary, the dissolution of the French National Assembly is a high-impact presidential tool that not only ends the deputies' mandate but also "resets" the legislative process: ongoing texts stop or expire, the agenda is reordered, and the Executive's capacity to turn its projects into law is redefined after the polls.

The President of the French Republic, primarily regulated by the 1958 Constitution (Constitution of the Fifth Republic), is the central figure of the French semi-presidential system. His powers combine elements of a classic head of state with very substantive executive functions, especially in foreign policy and defense. Much of his power also derives from appointing a Government responsible to the National Assembly, which allows him to decisively influence when he has an allied parliamentary majority.

1. Guarantee of the functioning of institutions and the State

Article 5 of the Constitution defines the president's general mission: to ensure respect for the Constitution, guarantee the regular functioning of public powers and the continuity of the State, and be the guarantor of national independence, territorial integrity, and respect for treaties. This clause grants him a role as arbitrator and supreme guarantor of institutional order, beyond the specific functions detailed in other articles.

2. Appointment of the Prime Minister and the Government

The president appoints the Prime Minister (Art. 8) and, on the Prime Minister's proposal, appoints and dismisses other members of the Government. In practice:

• If the president has a majority in the National Assembly, he freely chooses a politically close head of government.
• In case of "cohabitation" (parliamentary majority of opposite sign), he is forced to appoint a Prime Minister from that majority.

The Government, once appointed, is politically responsible to the National Assembly, but the president retains a direct role by being able to accept or provoke the Prime Minister's resignation.

3. Direction of foreign policy and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces

The president is the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces (Art. 15) and plays a central role in foreign policy. He chairs the councils and higher committees of national defense and has the final say in strategic decisions, including nuclear deterrence. Although the Government "conducts the nation's policy" (Art. 20), in practice diplomacy and defense are highly presidential, especially when there is no cohabitation.

4. Powers in legislative matters and relations with Parliament

The Constitution assigns the president several key powers in the legislative process and parliamentary life:

• Promulgation of laws (Art. 10): the president promulgates laws approved by Parliament. He can request, once only, a new deliberation of the law or some of its articles; this is not an absolute veto but a political pressure mechanism.
• Referral to the Constitutional Council (Art. 61): he can send laws to the Constitutional Council to rule on their conformity with the Constitution before promulgation.
• Messages to Parliament (Art. 18): he can address the Chambers gathered in Congress or send messages read in session, although he does not participate in debates nor vote.
• Dissolution of the National Assembly (Art. 12): after consulting the Prime Minister and the presidents of the Chambers, he can dissolve the Assembly, triggering new legislative elections. This is one of his strongest powers to control the political cycle.

5. Referendums

Article 11 empowers the president, on the proposal of the Government or jointly by both Chambers, to submit certain bills to referendum relating to the organization of public powers, reforms related to the nation's economic, social, or environmental policy, and ratification of certain treaties. The referendum is an instrument that allows him to seek direct legitimacy from the electorate on major reforms.

6. Extraordinary powers in case of crisis

Article 16 provides that when the institutions of the Republic, the nation's independence, territorial integrity, or fulfillment of international commitments are seriously and immediately threatened, and the regular functioning of constitutional public powers is interrupted, the president may assume exceptional powers. After consulting several authorities (Prime Minister, presidents of the Chambers, and Constitutional Council), he can adopt measures required by the circumstances, temporarily concentrating legislative and executive powers, although under Constitutional Council control and with very strong political limits.

7. Appointments and other attributions

The president also has appointment powers in highly relevant positions:

• He appoints three members of the Constitutional Council, including its president (Art. 56).
• He makes important civil and military appointments (Art. 13), some of which are subject to parliamentary control.

Additionally, he signs ordinances and decrees deliberated in the Council of Ministers, can grant presidential pardon (equivalent to individual clemency), and represents the Republic abroad, accrediting ambassadors and receiving foreign representatives.

Overall, the French Constitution configures the president as a head of state with very broad executive powers, whose concrete weight depends on the parliamentary balance of forces, but who in any case has decisive powers in defense, foreign policy, parliamentary dissolution, referendum, and institutional arbitration.

Emmanuel Macron's coalition, Ensemble!, obtained 168 seats in the latest French legislative elections, held in two rounds on June 30 and July 7, 2024. It came second, behind the New Popular Front, and far from the 289 deputies needed to achieve an absolute majority in a National Assembly of 577 members. It is worth noting that these 168 seats correspond to the presidential alliance, not exclusively to Renaissance, Macron's party.

What result did Macronism achieve

The distribution by major alliances reported by El Periódico and by The Conversation placed Ensemble! among the other two main forces in the Assembly:

• New Popular Front: 182 seats, first position.
• Ensemble!: 168 seats, second position.
• National Rally and its allies: 143 seats, third position.

With this result, the presidential alliance obtained approximately 29.1% of the seats and was 121 deputies short of an absolute majority. This percentage expresses its weight in the Assembly, not its percentage of votes: these are two different magnitudes and should not be confused.

How much was lost compared to 2022

The comparison with the previous legislative elections shows a significant setback. Compared to approximately 250 deputies in 2022 used in the comparative block count, Ensemble! dropped to 168 in 2024: around 82 seats less, a reduction close to one-third of its representation. The results tracking by El País reflects the resulting parliamentary scenario.

There is a relevant nuance: Macron had already lost the absolute majority in 2022. Therefore, the 2024 elections did not represent the first loss of that majority, but an additional weakening of his position. His alliance ceased to be the largest bloc and fell to second place, with less capacity to sustain a parliamentary agenda on its own.

Why Ensemble! is mentioned and not just Renaissance

Renaissance is Macron's party, but it ran within an alliance that also included MoDem and Horizons. Therefore, when summarizing the "Macron party" result, it is usual to cite the 168 deputies of the entire presidential coalition. Attributing all those seats solely to Renaissance would be incorrect.

Moreover, figures may vary depending on the classification used. Results by administrative "political nuance," such as those published by Dernières Nouvelles d’Alsace, record 148 seats under the Ensemble! category, while the broader political count of the presidential alliance sums 168. These figures are not directly interchangeable: they group candidacies differently.

What it meant politically

The result left an Assembly without any bloc with a sufficient majority to govern alone. For Macronism, the consequence was greater dependence on agreements with other forces and a more vulnerable parliamentary position. Demócrata links this fragmentation arising from the early 2024 legislative elections with subsequent French governmental instability.

In short: Macron retained the second-largest bloc in the Assembly but lost around 82 deputies compared to 2022. The essential figure is 168 seats for his coalition; not an electoral victory nor a majority on its own, and not the isolated result of Renaissance.