Parliamentary work depends on several actors with complementary roles, from preparing a text to voting on it in a public sitting.
Deputies debate and vote. Political groups organise political work, committees prepare texts, rapporteurs study them, the sitting chair conducts proceedings and the Government defends its bills.
Deputies are elected to represent the Nation. They introduce private members’ bills and amendments, take part in committees, speak and vote in public sittings.
They also scrutinise the Government through questions, hearings, reports or committees of inquiry. Their work is therefore not limited to the votes visible in the chamber.
Deputies may form political groups. A group organises part of their collective work: allocating committee seats, preparing debates and expressing shared positions.
Group membership helps explain the context of a vote, but a recorded public vote registers each deputy’s position when the vote is held by name.
A standing committee specialises in broad policy areas. It examines texts within its remit, holds hearings and prepares the discussion in public sitting.
The committee may adopt, reject or amend amendments. Depending on the procedure, the text debated in public sitting may be the version resulting from its work.
For each text, a rapporteur is responsible for studying it and presenting the committee’s work. The rapporteur analyses its provisions, organises hearings and provides a reasoned reading of the text.
The rapporteur gives an opinion on amendments on behalf of the committee. That opinion informs the debate, but does not determine the result of the vote by itself.
The sitting chair opens and closes the sitting, gives members the floor, announces votes and ensures compliance with the rules. The chair organises the debate without deciding the content of the text in place of the deputies.
When a government bill is examined, the responsible minister presents and defends it. The Government may table amendments, give its opinion on parliamentarians’ amendments and speak during debates.
The Government therefore participates actively in the legislative procedure, but parliamentarians cast the votes in the National Assembly and the Senate.
The responsible committee first studies the text. A rapporteur leads the work, presents an analysis and gives an opinion on the amendments.
In the public sitting, the minister answers questions, groups and deputies defend their positions, the chair organises speaking time, and the deputies then vote.
The Deputies page lets you search for an elected representative, find their group and open their profile. The Groups page presents the represented political groups and provides access to their members and activity indicators.
Legislative files and votes complete the picture: within the limits of available public data, they show the matters on which these actors took a position.
No. Some deputies may be non-attached, meaning that they do not join any political group.
No. It prepares and amends the text, but the procedure then continues, particularly in public sitting and in the other chamber.
No. Members of the Government speak and defend their positions, but deputies cast the votes.