File n° 63 

I. – Structures

The Bureau of the National Assembly, which is made up of the President, 6 vice-presidents, 3 Questeurs and 12 secretaries has authority over all departments of the Assembly. It decides upon, by means of the Internal Rules, their organization and their operation. It also lays down the status of the personnel of the Assembly.

The departments of the National Assembly are divided into legislative departments, administrative departments and joint departments:

― The legislative departments are : the General Secretariat of the Presidency, the Table Office, the six legislative “poles” (Legal Affairs, Culture and Social Questions, Economy and Scientific Assessment, Public Finance, European Affairs, International and Defence Affairs), Communication and Multimedia Information, the Library, Analytical Minutes and Verbatim Minutes.

― The administrative departments are : the General Secretariat of the Questure, General Administrative Affairs, Personnel, Purchasing and Material Means, Financial Affairs and Buildings and Heritage.

― The Information Systems Department, the Archives and Parliamentary Historical Research Department as well as the Protocol Unit are joint departments.

The Secretary General of the Assembly and the Presidency, aided by a Director General of Legislative Departments, directs the legislative departments and liaises between them and the President. He assists the President during the sittings. The European Affairs Department, the International Affairs and Defence Department and the Protocol Unit come under the authority of a Director General of European and International and Defence Affairs.

The Secretary General of the Questure, aided by a Director General of Administrative Departments, directs the administrative departments and liaises between them and the Questeurs.

The joint departments come under the authority of the Secretary General of the Assembly and the Presidency and the Secretary General of the Questure.

II. – size and branches

The National Assembly has a staff of 1,351 civil servants divided between 5 general branches which represent 80% of the personnel and 26 specialized branches which represent 20 %.

The general branches are :

1 – Clerks and senior clerks (152) : candidates for the competitive examinations must possess a 2^nd level university degree or the equivalent. Clerks provide legal and technical assistance to M.P.s in the drawing-up of the law and in the monitoring of Government. They carry out the administrative running of the Assembly. They may also have managerial positions: 46 of them are senior clerks/heads of unit.

There are also 17 heads of department, 3 director generals and 2 secretaries general.

2 – Deputy clerks (136) : candidates for the competitive examinations must fulfil the same qualification conditions as those sitting the examination for clerk. Deputy clerks mainly carry out management and documentation duties.

3 – Departmental secretaries (190) : candidates for this examination must have a professional secretarial diploma or a minimum of two years experience in the secretarial field. Departmental secretaries carry out the duties of an executive secretary including data processing.

4 – Administrative secretaries (55) : these are, for the moment, recruited by internal competitive examination from among the porters. They carry out general administrative tasks.

5 – Porters (523) : candidates for these positions must have professional experience of at least three years. They must also possess either a professional diploma or the school certificate taken at 16 years of age. They mainly carry out duties connected to reception, internal services or guided tours.

The specialized branches correspond to the following positions or jobs :

1 – The writing-up of minutes: debate secretaries (21) and debate drafters (44). Candidates for the competitive examinations must possess a 2^nd level university degree or the equivalent.

2 – Security: security officers (62). This competitive examination is limited to soldiers holding a military pension proving at least fifteen years of service.

3 – Computing: engineers (5) and technicians (11), with the same status as administrative secretaries. In order to take the external competitive examination for engineer, candidates must possess a diploma in the particular speciality (applications or production) corresponding to the required level or an equivalent diploma with professional experience in the speciality. In addition, the deputy clerk branch includes 23 computer experts.

4 – Buildings : architect, engineers, technicians and manual workers (62). When they are recruited by external competitive examination they must possess the necessary diploma corresponding to the job on offer.

5 – Catering : technical director (1) and assistants (57) : likewise, they are recruited by external competitive examination and must possess the necessary diploma corresponding to the job on offer.

6 – Medical assistance : medical assistants (3). They are recruited by external competitive examination and must possess the State Nursing Diploma.

7 – Various positions (7) : head of car-pool, mechanics etc.

46% of parliamentary civil servants work in legislative departments, 49 % in administrative departments and 5 % in joint departments.