Senate (France)

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Not to be confused with the Sénat conservateur of the French Consulate and First French Empire.


Founded 1799
Seats 348
French Senate 2014.svg
Political groups
     Republican (143)[1]
Indirect election
Last election
28 September 2014
Next election
September 2017
Meeting place
Hemicycle Senat France.jpg
Luxembourg Palace, Paris
Flag of France.svg
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The Senate (French: Sénat [seˈna]) is the upper house of the Parliament of France, presided over by a president. Indirectly elected by elected officials, it represents territorial collectivities of the Republic and French citizens living abroad.

The Senate enjoys less prominence than the lower house, the directly elected National Assembly; debates in the Senate tend to be less tense and generally receive less media coverage.


France's first experience with an upper house was under the Directory from 1795 to 1799, when the Council of Ancients was the upper chamber. There were Senates in both the First and Second Empires (the former being known as the sénat conservateur, the latter as the French Senate), but these were only nominally legislative bodies – technically they were not legislative, but rather advisory bodies on the model of the Roman Senate.

With the Restoration in 1814, a new Chamber of Peers was created, on the model of the British House of Lords. At first it contained hereditary peers, but following the July Revolution of 1830, it became a body to which one was appointed for life. The Second Republic returned to a unicameral system after 1848, but soon after the establishment of the Second French Empire in 1852, a Senate was established as the upper chamber. In the Fourth Republic, the Senate was replaced by the Council of the Republic, but its function was largely the same. With the new constitution of the Fifth Republic enforced on 4 October 1958, the older name of Senate was restored.

In 2011, the Socialist Party won control of the French Senate for the first time since the foundation of the French Fifth Republic.[2] In 2014, the centre-right Gaullists and its allies won back the control of the Senate.

Composition and election[edit]

Until September 2004, the Senate had 321 senators, each elected to a nine-year term. That month, the term was reduced to six years, while the number of senators progressively increased to 348 in 2011, in order to reflect the country's population growth.[3] Senators were elected in thirds every three years; this was also changed to one-half of their number every three years.[4]

Senators are elected indirectly by approximately 150,000 officials ("grands électeurs"), including regional councilors, department councilors, mayors, city councilors in large towns, and members of the National Assembly. However, 90% of the electors are delegates appointed by councilors. This system introduces a bias in the composition of the Senate favoring rural areas. As a consequence, while the political majority changes frequently in the National Assembly, the Senate has remained politically right since the foundation of the Fifth Republic, much to the displeasure of the Socialists.[5] This has spurred controversy, especially after the September 2008 senatorial elections[6] in which the (left-wing) Socialist Party, despite controlling all but two of France's regions, a majority of départements, and communes representing more than 50% of the population, still failed to achieve a majority in the Senate. The Senate has also been accused of being a "refuge" for politicians that have lost their seats in the National Assembly. However, the left (led by PS) gained control of the French Senate for the first time since 1958 in 2011, a short lived win as in 2014, the right (led by UMP) regained the French Senate due to the dipping popularity of President Francois Hollande, incumbent since 2012.

Twelve senators are elected to represent French citizens living outside the Republic.[7]

Following a tradition started by the first National Assembly during the French Revolution, the "left-wing" parties sit to the left as seen from the president's seat, and the "right-wing" parties sit to the right, and the seating thus indicates the political spectrum as represented in the Senate.

Composition and membership[edit]

e • d 
Parties and coalitions Abbr. 2004 a 2008 ± 2011 ±
Union for a Popular Movement (Union pour un mouvement populaire) UMP 159 56 151 –8 132 –19
Centrist Union-UDF (Union centriste–Union pour la démocratie française) UC-UDF 30 4 29 –1 31 +2
Socialist Party (Parti socialiste) PS 95 29 116 +21 131 +15
Communist, Republican and Citizen (Communiste, républicain, et citoyen) CRC 23 3 23 +0 21 –2
Europe Écologie–The Greens (Europe Écologie–Les Verts) VEC 0 +0 0 +0 10 +10
European Democratic and Social Rally (Rassemblement démocratique et social européen) RDSE 17 8 17 +0 16 –1
Total UMP, UC-UDF and one RDSE (Right) 189 60 180 –9 164 –16
Total "Presidential Majority" PS, CRC, VEC and all but one RDSE (Left) 118 32 139 +21 177 +38
Non-Inscrits NI 6 1 7 +1 7 +0
Total 331 114 343 +12 348 +5
a - Seats up for election (Serie A)
Source: Public Senat


The senators elect a President from among their members. The current incumbent is Gérard Larcher. The President of the Senate is, under the constitution of the Fifth Republic, first in the line of succession—in case of death, resignation or removal from office (only for health reasons)—to the Presidency of the Republic, becoming Acting President of the Republic until a new election can be held. This happened twice for Alain Poher—once at the resignation of Charles de Gaulle and once at the death of Georges Pompidou.


Under the Constitution, the Senate has nearly the same powers as the National Assembly. Bills may be submitted by the administration (projets de loi) or by either house of Parliament (propositions de loi). Because both houses may amend the bill, it may take several readings to reach an agreement between the National Assembly and the Senate. When the Senate and the National Assembly cannot agree on a bill, the administration can decide, after a procedure called commission mixte paritaire, to give the final decision to the National Assembly, whose majority is normally on the government's side. This does not happen frequently; usually the two houses eventually agree on the bill, or the administration decides to withdraw it. However, this power gives the National Assembly a prominent role in the law-making process, especially since the administration is necessarily of the same side as the Assembly, for the Assembly can dismiss the administration through a motion of censure. The power to pass a vote of censure, or vote of no confidence, is limited. As was the case in the Fourth Republic's constitution, new cabinets do not have to receive a vote of confidence. Also, a vote of censure can occur only after 10 percent of the members sign a petition; if rejected, those members that signed cannot sign another petition until that session of Parliament has ended. If the petition gets the required support, a vote of censure must gain an absolute majority of all members, not just those voting. If the Assembly and the Senate have politically distinct majorities, the Assembly will in most cases prevail, and open conflict between the two houses is uncommon.

The Senate also serves to monitor the administration's actions by publishing many reports each year on various topics.


Luxembourg Palace

The Senate is housed inside the Luxembourg Palace in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, and is guarded by Republican Guards. In front of the building lies the Senate's garden, the Jardin du Luxembourg, open to the public.

See also[edit]

Notes and references[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Sénat (24 Oct 2011). "Liste des sénateurs par groupes politiques". Sénat (in French). Sénat. Retrieved 24 October 2011. 
  3. ^
  4. ^ "Les groupes politiques". 13 January 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2011. 
  5. ^ Gilles Le Béguec, Les socialistes et le Sénat, Parlement[s], Revue d'histoire politique, n° 6 2006/2, pp. 57–72, L'Harmattan, ISSN 1768-6520 (print) ISSN 1760-6233 (online)
  6. ^ "Sénat, le triomphe de l'anomalie – Libération". Libération. France. 25 September 2008. Retrieved 21 April 2011. 
  7. ^ Sénat français. "Sénateurs représentant les Français établis hors de France – Sénat". Retrieved 21 April 2011. 

External links[edit]