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French Senate Takes Up Bid to Tighten Rules for Changing the Constitution

The move seeks to close the door to constitutional changes by referendum that circumvent Parliament.

Overview

  • Senators are debating a proposal on November 6 from Socialist lawmaker Éric Kerrouche to reinforce the procedure for revising the Constitution.
  • Backers say the text would block attempts to use Article 11 to overhaul the Constitution via a popular vote without parliamentary endorsement.
  • The initiative responds to a Rassemblement national plan, filed in January 2024, that reportedly seeks to rewrite roughly one fifth of the Constitution.
  • Reporting describes the RN project as aiming to enshrine national preference, tighten migration policy, and assert the primacy of national law over European treaties.
  • Left-leaning senators frame the push as a safeguard against a plebiscitary drift, warning that a future "referendum on immigration" could bypass representative institutions.