End of life, immigration… what Emmanuel Macron proposes to parties to expand the scope of the referendum

Never two without three. Having invited all the presidents of parties and assemblies on August 30 to Saint-Denis and then on October 12 to the Elysee Palace to discuss the situation in the Middle East, Emmanuel Macron again invites the same people, in the same format, on November 17.

In his letter, published on Sunday evening by Le Figaro and a copy of which was obtained by Le Parisien, the head of state recalls that “our responsibility is to overcome our differences in the interests of the country. “The President of the Republic, having taken stock of the various projects initiated after the first meeting in Saint-Denis, intends to continue “reflections on ways to develop the referendum.” »

End of life or related migration issues?

In an appendix to the document, Emmanuel Macron wants to clarify, proposing to consider whether draft laws relating to social issues can be “submitted to a referendum,” which is currently excluded by Article 11 of the constitution. The head of state illustrates this thinking by citing “end of life” as an example, as well as “migration issues.” »

None of this is a coincidence, as debate on immigration legislation opens this Monday in the Senate, and Republicans, like RN, are making the issue of an immigration referendum a cornerstone of their proposals.

Emmanuel Macron already spoke about this idea of ​​​​expanding the scope of Article 11 on October 4, during a speech before the Constitutional Council on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the supreme jurisdiction. “The extension of this law to all types of bills – including criminal, tax and even budgetary – (…) is undesirable,” the President of the Republic excludes.

Possible evolution of RIP

He also proposes reforming the Joint Initiative Referendum (RIP) procedure to “make it more practical.” “To do this, he proposes to reduce the required trigger thresholds to 1/10 members of parliament (i.e. 93), versus 1/5 today (185) and to 1 million voters versus 5 million today. He also intends to “give citizens the opportunity to take initiative” on the RIP, although for now it can only be launched by parliamentarians.

However, this participatory democracy approach cannot seek to repeal a provision promulgated “less than five years ago” or “relating to the same subject as a provision enacted by the same legislature.” “Conversely, parliament will not have the opportunity to adopt a text “contrary to the choice of the French” for five years. » Finally, Emmanuel Macon instructs former Minister (UMP) Eric Werth to think about decentralization.

“Macron has the wrong agenda for the second time”

“This is not about the environment or social justice. Macron has the wrong agenda for the second time, I can’t imagine that he will add them to November 17,” reacts to Le Parisien the national secretary of the environmentalists, Marine Tondelier, who will “discuss” with her leadership her possible participation.

The Bardells around Jordan, who had not read the letter that Sunday night, waited to read it before reacting. “And if we go to a referendum, then yes, let’s go!” – those around them exclaimed.