Two months after the appointment of Gabriel Attal to Matignon, and while the executive did not hide its desire to legislate more by regulatory means, on subjects that allow it, parliamentarians were worried about the lack of perspective on government bills to be debated between now and summer. The Attal government finally unveiled, Monday March 11, its legislative agenda for the coming months, culminating in the examination of the bill on “end of life” and that on agriculture which should take place in May in the National Assembly.
While the ordinary session of Parliament will end at the end of June, the government is considering an extraordinary session of “two to three weeks” in July, depending on the progress of the examination of the texts. In the absence of an absolute majority, it will once again be forced to seek majorities text by text in Parliament, as was particularly the case during the turbulent examination of the “immigration” bill at the end of 2023.
• End of life
After long months of reflection, Emmanuel Macron announced on Sunday that the text on the end of life would open up for adults the “possibility of requesting assistance in dying under certain strict conditions”.
The Prime Minister clarified on Monday on Marie Lebec. The text will not be subject to an accelerated procedure and should arrive in the Senate “after the summer”, added the minister, invoking “the time necessary for a quality debate, peaceful in both Chambers”.
• Agriculture
MPs should take up, from May 13, the expected bill on agriculture, while the crisis in the sector which broke out at the start of the year continues, despite the first concessions from the executive. It “was reworked following the agricultural crisis, the mobilization of the sectors and the commitment” of the executive “so that it is a complete, consolidated text which meets the expectations of farmers,” continued Ms. Lebec. “Given the issues, we want to leave all the time necessary for the debates to take place. »
At the end of February, shortly before the Agricultural Show, which was marked by clashes during Mr. Macron’s visit, Mr. Attal wanted to give assurances to farmers by providing “a progress update » of the sixty-two projects launched by the government, and announced the presentation “by the summer” of a new bill to “strengthen the EGalim system”.
• Accommodation
The government has planned for senators to first take up this other bill which concerns a sector in crisis, from mid-June.
Already criticized on the left, it must notably review the Solidarity and Urban Renewal (SRU) law, which sets quotas for social housing in certain municipalities. There will then be “during the second half” a new text relating to the “decentralization of powers”, according to the Minister of Relations with Parliament.
• “Economic rearmament”
Three texts are in preparation around the theme of “economic rearmament”, called for by the Head of State at the beginning of January. First a bill “on the attractiveness of the Paris market”, which could be examined the week of April 8 in the Assembly, then in mid-May in the Senate. Then, a bill on the simplification of procedures, “in continuation of a previous bill on green industry”, from the beginning of June in the Senate. Finally, another “on the opening of regulated sectors”, which according to Ms. Lebec “should arrive more during the second half of the year”.
• Parental authority
The Minister of Relations with Parliament also announced that a bill on “parental responsibility and penal response for minors” would be included in “mid-May in the Senate” then “in June” at the Palais-Bourbon. The content of the text, which is partly intended to be a response to last summer’s riots, has not yet been revealed.
During his general policy statement at the end of January, the Prime Minister mentioned the establishment of “work of educational interest” for juvenile delinquents under the age of 16.
• New Caledonia
After the constitutional revision relating to the inclusion of the “guaranteed freedom” of recourse to voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion), approved by Congress on March 4, a new constitutional revision could be implemented “during June”, concerning the New Caledonia.
A first ordinary text, already adopted in the Senate, must be validated in the Assembly before mid-April to record the postponement of the provincial elections. Then a constitutional reform must be adopted in both Chambers with a view to being ratified “before July 1” by a Congress specifically devoted to this issue, according to the minister.
• Off-calendar: energy and “old age”
The bill on energy sovereignty, supposed to set France’s energy course, and which has already experienced several upheavals, is still not on the agenda. “We decided to give ourselves time to work and ensure that a text was passed in good conditions,” declared Ms. Lebec. The same goes for the “old age” law, a long-standing promise by the executive and postponed several times, although the government committed at the end of last year to having it adopted during the year. 2024.
