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Lower house of the French Parliament under the Fifth Republic

The National Assembly (; asɑ̃ble nɑsjɔnal) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (italics=set). The National Assembly's legislators are known as [[Deputy (France) (depyte), meaning "delegate" or "envoy" in English; etymologically, it is a cognate of the English word deputy, the standard term for legislators in many parliamentary systems. There are 577 députés, each elected by a single member constituency (at least one per department) through a two round system; thus, 289 seats are required for a majority. The president of the National Assembly, currently Yaël Braun Pivet, presides over the body. The officeholder is usually a member of the largest party represented, assisted by vice presidents from across the represented political spectrum. The National Assembly's term is five years; however, the President of France may dissolve the Assembly, thereby calling for early elections, unless it has been dissolved in the preceding twelve months. This measure has become rarer since the 2000 French constitutional referendum reduced the presidential term from seven to five years; since the 2002 French legislative election and until the 2022 French legislative election, the President of the Republic has always had a coattail effect of majority in the Assembly two months after the presidential election, and it would accordingly be of little benefit to dissolve it. Due to the separation of powers, the President of the Republic may not take part in parliamentary debates. They can address the Congress of the French Parliament, which meets at the Palace of Versailles, or have the address read by the presidents of both chambers of Parliament, with no subsequent debate. Following a tradition started by the first National Assembly during the French Revolution, the left wing parties sit to the left as seen from the president's seat and the right wing parties to the right; the seating arrangement thus directly indicates the left–right political spectrum as represented in the Assembly. The official seat of the National Assembly is the Palais Bourbon on the Rive Gauche of the Seine in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The Assembly also uses other neighbouring buildings, including the Immeuble Chaban Delmas on the Rue de l'Université, Paris. Like most institutions of importance in Paris, it is guarded by Republican Guards.

The Constitution of France in the Fifth Republic greatly increased the power of the executive at the expense of Parliament, compared to previous constitutions (Third and Fourth Republics), following the May 1958 crisis. The President of the Republic can decide to dissolve the National Assembly and call for new legislative elections. This is meant as a way to resolve stalemates where the Assembly cannot decide on a clear political direction. This possibility is seldom exercised. The last dissolution was by President Jacques Chirac in 1997, following from the lack of popularity of Prime Minister Alain Juppé. However, the plan backfired, as the newly elected majority was opposed to Chirac. The National Assembly can overthrow the executive government (that is, the Prime Minister and other ministers) by a motion of no confidence (motion de censure). For this reason, Prime Ministers and their government are necessarily from the dominant party or coalition in the assembly. In the case of a President of the Republic and National Assembly from opposing parties, this leads to the situation known as cohabitation; this situation, which has occurred three times (twice under François Mitterrand, once under Jacques Chirac), is likely to be rarer now that terms of the President and Assembly are the same length (5 years since the 2000 referendum) and are elected in the same year. While motions de censure are periodically proposed by the opposition following government actions that it deems highly inappropriate, they are purely rhetorical; party discipline ensures that, throughout a parliamentary term, the Government is never overthrown by the Assembly, at least when the governing party/coalition holds a working majority in the Chamber (which is no longer the case as of 2023). Since the beginning of the Fifth Republic, there has only been one single successful motion de censure, in 1962 in hostility to the referendum on the method of election of the President of the Republic; President Charles de Gaulle dissolved the Assembly within a few days. The Government (the Prime Minister and the Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament) used to set the priorities of the agenda for the Assembly's sessions, except for a single day each month. In practice, given the number of priority items, it meant that the schedule of the Assembly was almost entirely set by the executive; bills generally only have a chance to be examined if proposed or supported by the executive. This, however, was amended on 23 July 2008. Under the amended Constitution, the Government sets the priorities for two weeks in a month. Another week is designated for the Assembly's "control" prerogatives (consisting mainly of oral questions addressed to the Government). The fourth one is also set by the Assembly. Furthermore, one day per month is set by a "minority" (group supporting the Government but which is not the largest group) or "opposition" group (having officially declared it did not support the Government). Legislators of the Assembly can ask written or oral questions to ministers. The Wednesday afternoon 3 p. m. session of "questions to the government" is broadcast live on television. Like Prime Minister's Questions in the United Kingdom, it is largely a show for the viewers, with members of the majority asking flattering questions, while the opposition tries to embarrass the government.

Since 1988, the 577 deputies are elected by direct universal suffrage with a two round system by constituency, for a five year mandate, subject to dissolution. The constituencies each have about 100,000 inhabitants. The electoral law of 1986 specifies their variance of population within a department should not exceed 20%, when conducting any redistribution. However, none were redrawn between 1982 and 2009. As a result of population movements, births and deaths inequalities between the less populous rural districts and the urban districts arose. The deputy for the most populous (within Val d'Oise), represented 188,000 voters, while that for the other extreme (for Lozère at large), represented 34,000. That for Saint Pierre and Miquelon serves fewer than 6,000. Most were redrawn in 2009 (boundaries officially adopted in 2010, effective in 2012), but this redistribution was controversial, such as the creation of eleven constituencies for French residents overseas without increasing the number of seats. The electoral map is drawn by an independent commission. To be elected in the first round of voting, a candidate must obtain at least 50% of the votes cast, with a turnout of at least 25% of the registered voters on the electoral rolls. If no candidate is elected in the first round, those who account for in excess of 12.5% (1/8) of the registered voters are entered in the second round of voting. If no three or more meet such conditions, the two highest placing candidates automatically advance to the second round of voting – at which, the candidate who receives the most votes is elected. Each candidate is enrolled along with a substitute, who takes the candidate's place if during tenure incapacitated or barred – if the deputy becomes a government member, most notably. The organic law of 10 July 1985 established a system of party list proportional representation within the framework of the département. It was necessary within this framework to obtain at least 5% of the vote to elect an official. However, the legislative election of 1986, carried out under this system, gave France a new majority which returned the National Assembly to the aforementioned two round system. Of the 577 elected deputies, 539 represent metropolitan France, 27 represent the overseas departments and overseas collectivities; 11 represent French residents overseas.

The agenda of the National Assembly is mostly decided by the Government, although the Assembly can also enforce its own agenda. Indeed, article 48 of the Constitution guarantees at least a monthly session decided by the Assembly.

A law proposal is a document divided into three distinct parts: a title, an exposé des motifs and a dispositif. The exposé des motifs describes the arguments in favour of a modification of a given law or new measurements that are proposed. The dispositif is the normative part, which is developed within articles. The law proposals may pass through the National Assembly and Senate in an indifferent order, except for financial laws which must go through the Assembly first, or territorial organisational laws or laws for French citizens living in foreign countries, which must first pass through the Senate.

Election MetropolitanFrance Overseas France Total seats Changes Overseasdepartments(DOM) Overseasterritories(TOM) Territorialcollectivities 1958 465 10 + 71 33 − 579 − 1962 465 10 7 − 482French Algeria became independent. A new constituency was created for Wallis and Futuna (TOM) in 1961. 1967 470 10 7 − 4875 new constituencies were created in 1966. 1968 470 10 7 − 487 − 1973 473 10 7 − 4903 new constituencies were created in 1972. 1978 474 11 5 1 491An additional constituency was created in Corsica in 1975. In 1976, Comoros gained their independence except Mayotte, which became a Territorial collectivity (one constituency), and Saint Pierre and Miquelon (formerly TOM) became a DOM. In 1977, French Territory of the Afars and the Issas (formerly known as French Somali Coast) became independent; moreover, a new constituency was created in Polynesia (TOM) and another in New Caledonia (TOM). 1981 474 11 5 1 491 − 1986 555(95 departments) 15(5 DOM) 5(3 TOM) 2(2 Territorial collectivities) 577In 1985, Saint Pierre and Miquelon (formerly DOM) became a Territorial collectivity. In 1986, party list proportional representation system was introduced and the majoritarian two ballot system remained only in 3 single member constituencies: Wallis et Futuna (TOM), Mayotte and Saint Pierre and Miquelon (Territorial collectivities). 1988 555 15 5 2 577In 1988, the majoritarian two ballot system was re established. In comparison to 1981 elections, 96 new constituencies were created (91 in the Metropolitan France, 5 in the Overseas departments), while 10 parisian constituencies (n. 22 to n. 31) were suppressed.