Foreign and Defence Policy: From Independence to Interdependence

Abstract

It has long been a truism, among commentators on French politics, that foreign and defence policy constitute a domaine réservé (reserved sector) which effectively offers the president unrivalled powers over policy, patronage and implementation. The truism derives more from practice than from constitutional canon. According to the text of the constitution, although the president is ‘the guarantor of national independence, of the integrity of the territory and of respect for Community agreements and treaties’ (article 5), and although he or she negotiates international treaties (article 52), Parliament retains the right to authorise any declaration of war (article 35) and to ratify treaties (article 53). Moreover, although the president is supreme head of the armed forces and chairs all the major defence committees (article 15), it is the prime minister who is ‘responsible for national defence’ (article 21). As in so many other areas of French public policy, the ambiguities of the constitution lie dormant so long as the Elysée, the Hotel Matignon and the Palais Bourbon are in the same political hands.