5.3.1. National Assembly

As is the case with other bicameral Parliaments, the French bicameralism is an unequal system since the National Assembly has much broader powers than those of the Senate:

♤ It alone can hold the Government accountable by refusing to grant it ‘confidence’ or by passing a censure motion (following the same idea, only the National Assembly can be dissolved by the President of the Republic).

♤ In the case of disagreement with the Senate, the Government can decide to grant the National Assembly “the final say” in the legislative procedure (except for constitutional acts and institutional acts concerning the Senate);

♤ The Constitution provides the National Assembly with a more important role in the examination of the finance bill and the social security financing bill. Thus, the tabling for a first reading of such bills must be before the National Assembly and the time limits granted for their examination are much longer for the National Assembly.