The
cumul des mandats (,
accumulation of mandates) is a common practice in the
Fifth French Republic (1958–present). It consists of simultaneously holding two or more elective offices at different levels of government — local, regional, national and European — as mayors, MPs, senators, Members of the European Parliament, and
President of the General Council in their home regions. Sometimes, officials hold as many as four positions. While officials may not be elected to more than one office at the same level (such as being both an MP and a senator), they may hold offices in any combination at the municipal, departmental, regional, national and European levels. The
cumul des mandats is controversial in France, being accused of fostering
absenteeism and
cronyism. Several laws to limit the practice have been introduced in recent decades. By far the most coveted local mandate is that of mayor, traditionally a highly prestigious function in France. A hotly debated law to prohibit all dual mandates, to take effect in 2017, was adopted in July 2013. Following the adoption of the law, former President Sarkozy and other members of the opposition UMP party have declared that if elected in 2017, their party would revise or even revoke that law. Many Socialist Party MPs and senators have also expressed their unease with the law imposed by President Hollande and might welcome a review of the law. In the meantime, the ubiquitous 'député-maire' (MP and mayor) and 'sénateur-maire' are still familiar figures of the French political scene.
Conditions regarding multiple mandates in France The
President of France cannot hold any other office during their tenure, except for the position of
co-prince of Andorra, which they hold
ex officio with the
Bishop of Urgell. In practice, each send a
personal representative, the equivalent of a
viceroy, to
Andorra to act on their behalf.
Multiple mandates at the legislative level Parliamentary mandates are incompatible with each other: • Member of the
National Assembly of France • Member of the
Senate of France • Member of the
European Parliament The
2022 election in
Pas-de-Calais's 8th Assembly constituency was annulled because the winner's
substitute was already substitute for
a senator. A member from one of the above assemblies cannot combine its mandate with more than one of the following mandates: • Member, vice-president or president of a
Departmental Council • Member, vice-president or president of a
Regional Council • Councillor, deputy-mayor, or
mayor of a commune of more than 3,500 inhabitants • Councillor of Paris (The "
Council of Paris" is at the same level a municipal council and a departmental council, because Paris has a special status, municipality and
département at the same level) • Councillor in the
Corsican Assembly (Corse has a regional special status) Exceptions: They can hold a third office in a town of less than 3,500 inhabitants. They may also hold a third office as a councillor, vice-president or president of an
urban community, an
agglomeration community or a
communauté de communes, as these terms are elected by indirect universal suffrage, by municipal councils from among the councillors. For example, a member of the National Assembly has the right to be general/regional councillor or
President of a regional/general council. They cannot hold a third office unless they are the mayor, deputy mayor or municipal councillor of a city of less than 3,500 inhabitants. In 2008, 85% of members of parliament held multiple posts Following the June 2012 legislative elections, it was still the case that 75% of all National Assembly members (438 deputies out of 577) held a double mandate (often as mayor of a mid- to large-size city) and 33 have four mandates. In August 2013, out of 348 senators, 152 are also mayors.
Accumulation of local mandates They cannot have more than two local mandates. The following mandates are incompatible each other: •
Mayor •
President of the General Council •
President of the Regional Council For example, an elected official cannot be mayor and president of the Regional Council. However, all other local mandates are cumulative. A mayor can also be a general councillor and a president of a Regional Council can also be deputy-mayor of a city. Exceptions are the same as those for parliamentarians (Cities of less than 3,500 inhabitants and the intercommunalities)
Accumulation of mandates and governmental functions of Belfort and the
Cédric Perrin senator-mayor of Beaucourt at a ceremony in 2014 A member of the French government cannot be a member of any assembly. However, the member of government may retain any local mandate they hold. A cabinet minister can exercise a maximum of two local mandates in addition to their government function. For example, the prime minister, a minister or secretary of state can be
mayor, or president of a general, regional or intercommunal council or sit in one of these assemblies. Currently, over two-thirds of the members of the French government are engaged in one or two more local mandates.
Purpose and frequency The rationales for holding multiple offices are varied. Holding a seat in the Senate, National Assembly, or European Parliament gives local
mayors a valuable method of tapping funds to develop their home cities and regions. It also can give opportunities to curry favor with other important officials, with opportunities at each level. Salaries for positions can be combined (to a point) as well. It has been common practice in France since the
Third Republic (1870). But there are also many cases of "cumul" before this period, for example, the writer
Alexis de Tocqueville was a member from 1839 to 1851. In 1849 he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs and at the same time he was elected
President of the General Council of
Manche from 1849 to 1851 (councillor from 1842 to 1852). There are several reasons for this phenomenon, and one of them is that France has a long tradition of centralization, compared to countries such as Germany, Italy, and Spain. Local governments have fewer powers and resources than those possessed by the
Länder of Germany, or Autonomous Communities of Spain. The local mandates in France are less important than in other countries, and therefore politicians have more time to devote to a parliamentary mandate. The
cumul is a widespread practice and has grown much more prevalent in modern France. In 1946, 36 percent of deputies in the National Assembly held an additional office. against accumulation of electoral mandates,
Yves Jégo should have resigned from one of the following mandates before 21 April 2010 (one month after the Regional elections): • Member of the
National Assembly of France for
Seine-et-Marne • Regional councillor of
Île-de-France •
Mayor of
Montereau-Fault-Yonne But giving as a pretext a legal complaint from the
Front National's candidates, he held the three of them for more than a year, plus his local mandate of president of the
communauté de communes des deux fleuves (
CC2F).
Recent and current status of cumul in the French government Lionel Jospin (Prime Minister from 1997 to 2002) imposed on his government ministers an unwritten rule of having no local office. For example,
Catherine Trautmann stepped down as
Mayor of
Strasbourg (while remaining a member of the city council) to become
Minister of Culture; conversely,
Martine Aubry stepped down from the
Ministry of Labour when elected Mayor of
Lille in 2001. This rule was more or less upheld by
Jacques Chirac during the governments of
Jean-Pierre Raffarin and
Dominique de Villepin for the 2002–2007 term, with a few notable exceptions (
Jean-François Copé was mayor of
Meaux,
Nicolas Sarkozy was
President of the
Hauts-de-Seine General Council); for instance,
Philippe Douste-Blazy had to step down from the
Toulouse mayorship upon joining the government. , no such rule was stated for the
François Fillon government:
Alain Juppé, former Minister for Development was mayor of
Bordeaux, and was defeated in his National Assembly constituency (a third cumulative mandate) by 50.9% to 49.1% of the votes by the
Socialist candidate. Additionally,
Hervé Morin, the
Minister of Defense, is mayor of
Épaignes, and
Éric Besson, Minister of Immigration and National Identity, is the mayor of
Donzère. == Greece ==