French President Emmanuel Macron has put forward two significant amendments to the French Constitution on the 65th anniversary of its adoption. The first aims to broaden the scope of

Article 11, which outlines the content and process for proposing referendums, while the second seeks to relax the conditions for implementing shared-initiative referendums (Référendum d’initiative partagée, RIP). These proposed changes reflect Macron's desire to present himself as a unifying leader who can address institutional challenges and respond to urban unrest that plagued the country earlier in the year.

Macron emphasized that these reforms are designed to meet the democratic aspirations of the current era. In his speech, he invoked the legacy of General de Gaulle, who inspired the existing Constitution and ushered in the Fifth French Republic. Macron stressed the importance of "popular sovereignty" in shaping institutional developments, highlighting that the Constitution serves both as a framework for governance and a political project.

This initiative from the President comes at a time when the right-wing and far-right factions are advocating for the expansion of referendums to include immigration issues. Currently, Article 11 of the French Constitution restricts referendums to matters related to international treaties and reforms concerning the structure of public institutions, economic policies, social issues, and environmental policies. Similar to former socialist President François Mitterrand's attempt in 1984 to extend the scope of referendums, Macron's proposal would introduce the possibility of conducting referendums on immigration, essentially creating a "referendum on referendums." François Mitterrand's effort in 1984 ultimately failed as the National Assembly and the Senate failed to reach a consensus. Photo by Number 10, Wikimedia commons.