File n° 44 

According to Article 145 of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly, “the standing committees provide the National Assembly with the information necessary to enable it to carry out its monitoring role over Government policy”. Institutional practice and various reforms of the Rules of Procedure have gradually provided the standing committees with a direct monitoring power over Government action.

I. – Informing the national assembly

1. – Hearings

The standing committees may meet with a non-legislative agenda in order to hold hearings with key figures.

Article 5bis of the ordinance of November 17, 1958, provides that “an ad hoc or a standing committee may summon any person whose interviewing it may deem necessary, whilst taking into account, on the one hand, that subjects of a secret nature concerning national defence, foreign affairs, the internal or external security of the State may not be discussed and, on the other hand, the principle of the separation of the judicial authority from that of the other powers”.

These provisions, introduced in 1996, grant the standing committees the right to summon any person (not replying to a summons is punishable by a €7 500 fine).

Increasingly, the standing committees are using this possibility to interview members of the Government, including, at times, the Prime Minister. The Rules of Procedure, in addition, make provision for these interviews to be public and/or open to the press (article 46, paragraph 3). The standing committees also frequently interview experts or representatives of socio-professional circles.

Generally speaking, these hearings take place in the framework of the examination of a bill, but they may simply be for information purposes, particularly in the case of committees with fairly restricted legislative activity (foreign affairs; defence). In 2006, the six standing committees heard 294 persons of whom 112 were members of the Government.

2. – Fact-finding missions

Article 145 of the Rules of Procedure provides the standing committees with the possibility of setting-up temporary fact-finding missions. These missions may be individual or collective, they may be restricted to a single committee or be common to several, they may be of a short or longer length of time and they may or may not involve travel within France or abroad. Such missions are sometimes set up in order to prepare the examination of a bill or to monitor the implementation of a law recently passed.

The fact-finding missions conclude usually with the presentation of an information report, whose publication can be authorized by the committee (around 20 such reports are published annually). These reports must not contain any text to be submitted to a vote of the National Assembly.

Since the law of June 14, 1996, the standing committees of the National Assembly and the Senate may ask their assembly to take advantage of the prerogatives of committees of inquiry (the power of examination of all documents, the right of communication) for a specific mission which must not last more than six months. This provision has yet to be used.

II. – the monitoring role

1. – The monitoring of the budget and of the financing of social security

The institutional law of August 1, 2001 concerning finance laws establishes the role of the Finance Committee as regards budgetary monitoring (previously, this role was based on the provisions of article 164-IV of the ordinance of December 30, 1958 acting as Finance Bill for 1959). Article 57 of this law states that the Finance Committees of the National Assembly and of the Senate “must follow and monitor the carrying-out of the finance laws and must assess all questions concerning public finances”. This mission is entrusted to their special rapporteurs (members of the committees who are responsible for the examination of all or part of the funding of a government mission) or to several of their members appointed to do so.

In addition, the other committees also examine the expenditure of the ministerial departments which fall within their field of competence. Thus, they appoint from within their committee consultative rapporteurs who, nonetheless, do not have the same powers of investigation as their colleagues from the Finance Committee.

The budgetary rapporteurs, both special and consultative, obtain much of the information they need in the replies to the budgetary questionnaires sent out before July 10 to the ministries concerned.

The special rapporteur has a twofold mission. On the one hand, during the examination of the budget, he examines the funds allocated for a mission and presents a report on this allocation, firstly to the committee and then in plenary sitting. On the other hand, he permanently follows and monitors their usage.

All year long, the special rapporteurs of the Finance Committee have the right to examine all documents concerning the implementation of the finance law as well as the management of the public companies which come within their field of competence. Since 1991 (article 146 of the Rules of Procedure), this monitoring can be carried out through the publication of budgetary information reports.

The Constitution provides that the Court of Auditors must assist the Parliament in the monitoring of the implementation of the Finance Law and of the Social Security Finance Law.

To add to this traditional action of the special rapporteurs, the Finance Committee granted itself, in 1999, a new structure which reinforces parliamentary monitoring of the use of public funds and the efficiency of public expenditure: the Assessment and Monitoring Mission (MEC). Its main role is to carry out, each year, an assessment of the results of various public policies.

In August 2004, the Assessment and Monitoring Mission for the Social Security Finance Laws (MECSS), was set up, on the model of the Assessment and Monitoring Mission of the Finance Committee.

2. – Monitoring the implementation of laws 

Article 86, paragraph 8 of the Rules of Procedure states that “after the expiry of a period of six months following the coming into effect of an act the implementation of which requires the publication of texts of a regulatory nature, the M.P. who acted as rapporteur or, failing that, another M.P. appointed for such purpose by the relevant committee, shall put before the latter a report on the application of said statute. This report shall indicate the regulatory texts published and the circulars drawn up for the implementation of said statute, together with any provisions which have not been the object of the requisite commencement order for their taking effect. In such cases, the rapporteur shall address the committee after a further six month period”.