In the French Legislative power, the legislative function is provided by a “Bicameral Parliament”: the French National Assembly and the Senate, the meeting of the two assemblies forming the Congress.

The French National Assembly is made up of 577 deputies elected for five years by direct vote.

The Senate gathers 321 members elected for nine years, and renewed per third every three years. They ensure the representation of the local authorities established abroad.

The Parliament only has attributions which are expressly given to it by the Constitution. Thus, it has a role to decide laws, relating to principal freedoms. The initiative of the laws belongs to the both the Government and Parliament. The voted laws are then officially put into law by the Prime Minister.

The Parliament also holds a strong position on the financial side of things; most importantly it decides the budget of the nation, proposed by the Government.

The Government needs to have the confidence that the Parliament can continue to be reliable. The Parliament has the ability to withdraw their confidence in the Prime Minister and can also reverse the Government by adopting a motion of censure.