File n° 18

I. –  Composition and Election of the Bureau

1. –  Composition

The Bureau is made up of 22 members :

―   The President of the National Assembly, the only member to be elected for the whole term of the Parliament,

―   The 6 Vice Presidents,

―   The 3 Questeurs,

―   The 12 Secretaries.

In order to deal with certain decisions, delegations were formed within the Bureau. There are six at the present moment :

―  The delegation in charge of M.P.s’ status ;

―  The delegation in charge of  communication ;

―  The delegation in charge of international activities ;

―  The delegation in charge of questions concerning parliamentary offices ;

―  The delegation in charge of examining the admissibility of Members’ bills ;

―  The delegation in charge of study groups.

Each of these delegations is chaired by one of the Vice Presidents. In addition three of them also have as members a Questeur acting in his official capacity (communication, international activities, and parliamentary offices). The chairman of each delegation reports to the Bureau on the conclusions of the delegation which he chairs.

2. –  Method of election

a)  The Provisional Bureau

The first sitting of the Parliament is chaired by the most senior M.P. who is aided by the six youngest M.P.s who fulfil the role of Secretaries until the election of the Bureau. This Provisional Bureau only operates in order to carry out the election of the President of the National Assembly. Although no debate may take place under the chairmanship of the most senior member, it is customary for him to make a speech to his colleagues in which he shares his thoughts inspired by his experience in Parliament.

b)   Election of the President of the National Assembly

The President of the National Assembly is elected by secret ballot at the rostrum. Tellers, drawn by lots, count the votes and the most senior M.P. announces the result. If an absolute majority of votes cast is not obtained at the first two rounds, a relative majority is enough at the third round ; in the case of a draw, the eldest candidate wins. As soon as he is elected, the President mounts the rostrum, makes a speech and announces the date of the following sitting during which the members of the Bureau of the National Assembly will, themselves, be elected.

c)   Election of the Vice Presidents, the Questeurs and the Secretaries

The other members of the Bureau (the Vice Presidents, the Questeurs and the Secretaries) are elected at the beginning of each Parliament, during the sitting which follows the election of the President and are renewed at the beginning of each ordinary session, with the exception of that preceding the renewal of the National Assembly.

The composition of the Bureau attempts to reproduce the political make-up of the National Assembly. When there are the same number of candidates as positions to be filled, which is usually the case, then no ballot is held.

After the election of the Bureau, the President of the National Assembly notifies the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the President of the Senate of its composition.

II. –  The remit of the Bureau

Article 14, paragraph one, of the Rules of Procedure states that “the Bureau shall have power to arrange the deliberations of the Assembly and to organize and direct all departments”.

The Bureau has the responsibility of representing the National Assembly collectively at external events, of interpreting and applying the Rules of Procedure, of ruling on major incidents during sittings and of ensuring equality of treatment in media coverage.

1. –  Remit of the Bureau concerning legislative activities of the National Assembly

a)    In Plenary Sitting

In plenary sitting the President (or the Vice President who replaces him) directs the debates. He may, at any time, adjourn or end the sitting.

The Secretaries of the Bureau record the votes (and check the validity of the proxy votes) and the results of the ballots. At the specific request of a political group Chairman, the Bureau of the sitting may be called upon to verify the quorum at the moment of a vote.

b)   In Parliamentary Procedure

Part of the Bureau’s remit is also to assess the financial admissibility of Members’ bills upon their tabling ; it also establishes the conditions for tabling, notification and publication of oral questions. The President of the National Assembly may also refer questions of the financial admissibility of amendments to the Bureau although this provision is not applied.

2. –  Remit of the Bureau concerning the administrative running
of the National Assembly

The Bureau has wide statutory powers :

―  It decides the Internal Regulations which establish the organization, the remit and the working of the departments of the National Assembly ;

―  It sets down the terms of application, of interpretation and of implementation of these Internal Regulations by the various departments ;

―  It establishes the status, the retirement scheme and the social security system of the staff, as well as the terms of the relationship between the administration of the National Assembly and the professional organizations representing the personnel ;

―  It has a power of appointment to the highest positions in the administration of the National Assembly : it thus appoints the secretaries-general and the heads of department ;

―  Under the supervision of the Bureau, the Questeurs have responsibility for financial and administrative services ; they report to the Bureau on the main decisions falling within their remit and, should circumstances so require, also on matters which in particular affect the material aspects of the status of the personnel.

3. –  Other statutory aspects of the remit of the bureau

The Bureau also has the responsibility of respecting–through a procedure of approval of study groups – the banning, imposed by the Constitution, of private or professional interest groups.

It coordinates the international activities of the National Assembly.

In the field of communication, the Bureau has the final say on the conditions of production, transmission and distribution of the audiovisual account of the debates.

4. –  The constitutional and legislative remit of the bureau

There are several specific elements in this remit which the Bureau possesses on account of various constitutional and legislative provisions. To be particularly noted is :

―  The system of authorization concerning custodial or semi-custodial legal measures (article 26 of the Constitution) ;

―  The responsibility of the Bureau to become the Bureau of Congress when the latter meets in order to carry out a constitutional revision (article 89 of the Constitution) ;

―  The verification of incompatibility with parliamentary office as laid down by the electoral code ;

―  The registration of M.P.s as regards their membership of parties and political groups eligible for the distribution of public subsidies, as laid down by the laws on the financing of political life ;

―   The approval of the Rules of Procedure concerning parliamentary offices and the right of referral to these offices.

The Bureau meets around four times per year. A list of decisions made at each meeting is published in the Feuilleton and on the internet site of the National Assembly and certain decisions are published in the Journal officiel.