File n° 19 

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Chaired by the President, the Bureau is the supreme body of the National Assembly but its sheer size (22 members) means it must delegate some of its powers.

The Questeurs are the members of the Bureau who, under its authority and thus under the authority of the President of the National Assembly, carry out the administrative and financial management of the National Assembly.

In particular they draw up the budget of the National Assembly, manage the funds allocated to the Palais Bourbon and, as mentioned above, decide upon expenditure.

The position of questeur illustrates the principle of administrative and financial autonomy of parliamentary assemblies set down in article 7 of the Ordinance of 17 November 1958 relative to the running of parliamentary assemblies.

I. – The questeurs: a pluralistic body

1. –  Composition

The Questeurs are three M.P.s elected by their peers at the beginning of each Parliament, and then every year at the beginning of each ordinary session, except that which precedes the renewal of the National Assembly. In practice Questeurs tend to retain their position more than one year.

The Questeurs are a reflection of the political make-up of the National Assembly.  Since 1973, two of the Questeurs have been members of the parliamentary majority and the third Questeur has been a member of the opposition.

Disputes between the Questeurs are usually resolved as the problems dealt with are rarely of a political nature. Having Questeurs from different political parties means that the various tendencies in the National Assembly are associated with administrative decisions, thus avoiding such issues being exploited for political reasons.

2. –   Operation

The Questeurs meet every week during session with the two Secretaries General to discuss all the questions which fall within their remit.

The decisions of the Questeurs are taken collegially. The collegial nature of decisions is somewhat tempered by the existence of the notion of ‘delegated’ Questeur. The latter is chosen by his colleagues to act in their name. Each of the three Questeurs carries out this responsibility in turn for a one-month period.

The General Secretariat of the Questure prepares the Questeurs’meetings and, in collaboration with the different departments, draws up the files to be put before the Questeurs, writes up the minutes, records the decisions and ensures their implementation and communication (in particular via the intranet site of the National Assembly).

After each meeting, the Secretary General of the Questure and the Director General of Administrative Services bring together the heads of departments to inform them of the decisions taken by the Questeurs and to establish the practical aspects of their implementation.

II. –   remit of the questeurs

1. –   The questeurs and the budget of the National Assembly

a)      The Preparation of the Budget      

The financial autonomy of the parliamentary assemblies allows them to fix their draft budget without the executive power intervening. The draft budget is thus prepared by the Questeurs (aided by the departments). It is then presented to the Bureau, which has final responsibility.

It is then debated in a ‘joint committee in charge of deciding credits’. This committee, made up of the Questeurs of both the National Assembly and the Senate, is chaired by the president of one of the chambers of the Court of Auditors, aided by two assessorial judges with a consultative voice.

This joint committee decides on the credits it assesses necessary for the running of the assemblies. The Questeurs then divide these credits between the different types of expenditure.

The annual Finance Bill contains, in an annex, a report on the budgets of the parliamentary assemblies as laid down by the joint committee, which provides indications as to the expenditure, the variation from one year to the next and the forecasts for future needs.

b)      Implementation

The Questeurs are delegated by the Bureau to make all decisions regarding financial and accounting matters: expenditure may only be authorised with their agreement, except when the amount of such expenditure is relatively insubstantial. In such cases the agreement of the Secretary General of the Questure is sufficient.

The Questeurs’ decisions on expenditure are based on the examination of files prepared by the various departments of the National Assembly. If the files deal with building work or the provision of goods or services, then tenders are issued in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Public Tenders.

The procedure of approval of such expenditure illustrates the financial autonomy of the assemblies as the Questeurs approve the expenditure without the agreement of a financial controller from the executive branch.

c) The Verification of the Implementation of the Budget

In the same way, the verification and the approval of the accounts are matters entirely for the political responsibility of the National Assembly, without any intervention whatsoever from any body outside of Parliament. Article 16 of the Rules of Procedure provides for the appointment of a special committee which reflects proportionally the political composition of the National Assembly. Its duty is to verify and approve the accounts. This committee is made up of 15 members and is renewed each year at the beginning of the ordinary session (the members of the Bureau may not sit on this committee).

At the end of a given term, the Questeurs establish, in collaboration with the Secretary General of the Questure and the Department of Financial Affairs, an administrative account detailing the expenditure of the term.

This special committee is thus the a posteriori body which checks the financial management of the Questeurs. It is the only body which has the power to authorise the Questeurs to close the accounts of a term and to certify that records of the civil servants are correct. The powers of this committee are substantial: it may thus verify, with unlimited access, all orders of payment made during a given term. In addition, for several years now, it publishes an annual report analysing and commenting on the accounts of the previous term (this report is published on the internet site of the National Assembly).

2. – The general administration of the National Assembly

The Questeurs must deal with problems arising from the general administration of the institution. Each of the following areas falls within their remit, under the authority of the Bureau: personnel management, social security systems, pensions, the up-keep of the Palais Bourbon, its grounds and attached buildings, the car pool, the eating facilities, the provision of material means to their colleagues.

a) Personnel Management

The President of the National Assembly and the Questeurs are together in charge of personnel management (with the exception of the porters and temporary staff who fall entirely within the remit of the Questeurs alone). Within this area, they are in charge of all the provisions concerning the recruitment of civil servants by competitive examination, their promotion, their secondment, their leave of absence or their retirement as well as those provisions concerning disciplinary action. The Questeurs decide upon salary increases due to seniority but the Bureau is the only body which decides upon the salary index scale of the staff.

b) Social Security Matters

This element of the remit covers M.P.s and former M.P.s, as well as retired or present staff. The Questeurs are in charge of the “caisse des pensions” (pension scheme) and are members, by right, of the Social Security Management Committee for M.P.s and former M.P.s. They have the same powers of administration for the social security system of the staff.

c)  Security, the Checking of Access and Movement in the Palais Bourbon

According to Article 3 of the Ordinance of November 17, 1958 and to Article 13 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, the President is in charge of overseeing the internal and external security of the Palais Bourbon and all the other premises of the National Assembly. Thus he decides upon the size of the military force he deems necessary for this and this force is under his command. The President of the National Assembly may delegate certain of these powers to the Questeurs.

d)  Operation of the National Assembly

The Questeurs are also in charge of certain tasks directly related to the running of the National Assembly. In particular, at the beginning of each Parliament, they are responsible for the distribution of offices and meeting rooms for the secretariats of the political groups and for the M.P.s.

In addition, the Questeurs do all within their power to help the M.P.s in the carrying out of their office (transport, telephone, office equipment).