A NEW TOOL THE PREFERENDUM 

FOR EMMANUEL MACRON ?

This approach would make it possible to “simultaneously submit several issues during a single vote,” he later detailed. However, several constitutional law experts question the legal validity of such consultation. Clarifications to follow.

A “significant political approach”, an initiative previously announced by the President of the Republic.

A scheduled summit between Emmanuel Macron and the main leaders of political parties, scheduled for Wednesday August 30, 2023.

And, to top it all off, a possible establishment of a “preferendum” intended to solicit the opinion of French citizens. This terminology, mentioned on Tuesday August 29 by the government spokesperson, Olivier Véran, would, according to him, consist of "evaluating several questions simultaneously during the same vote".

The government spokesperson, who is also in charge of "democratic reform", maintained a certain ambiguity as to the contours of this concept of "preferential voting". This would make it possible in particular to “ask various questions to French citizens”, a sort of questionnaire with multiple choices, covering several themes.

According to Olivier Véran, this approach would have the advantage of circumventing the main weakness of a classic referendum: that of being reduced to a binary choice in favor or against the actions of the President of the Republic. “By asking multiple questions, individuals may express themselves more freely on one topic, while still providing substantive answers regarding other questions,” he said.

A concept not provided for by the Constitution
However, a problem arises: the concept of preferendum is not explicitly provided for in the French legislative framework. "

Technically, a referendum can include several questions, provided that they are understandable and distinct from each other,” explains Lauréline Fontaine, professor of public and constitutional law. Otherwise, the process would not comply with article 11 of the Constitution, which governs the use of referendums in France.

In this case, the procedure would become more of a consultation, "devoid of any binding power towards the executive power", underlines the specialist in constitutional law. This would be somewhat similar to the citizen consultations, particularly those related to climate, whose proposals have only been partially integrated into the legal texts.

The holding of several referendums in a single day
Olivier Véran wanted to clarify his vision on Wednesday August 30, after the meeting of the Council of Ministers:

“It is possible to hold several referendums at different times.

You could opt to ask several questions to French citizens during the same day. What the Constitution provides is that several distinct questions cannot be merged in the same ballot.

However, the Constitution allows citizens to be questioned on various issues on the same day, through independent ballots. This is what we could call a preferential ballot,” he clarified.

He also mentioned the prospect of a "pre-referendum", described as "national consultation, not accompanied by legal force: that is to say that we would poll French citizens on questions which could not be resolved. subject to a referendum under the Constitution.