European Constitution, Algeria, five-year term... These referendums already called under the Fifth Republic

It's been a running question since 2017, and this time Emmanuel Macron has made it official. The head of state announced Tuesday evening on TF1 that he wanted referendums to be held in the coming months on "economic, educational, and social issues." A look back at previous elections of this type.

In 1961, France – presided over by Charles de Gaulle and governed by Michel Debré – was in the midst of the Algerian War, which had begun in 1954. The head of state then decided to organize a referendum aimed at "validating" his "self-determination policy" over Algeria, recalls vie-publique . This provided in particular for the Algerian population to decide its own "political destiny" through "direct and universal suffrage." The "yes" vote won with 74.99%, with an abstention rate of 26.24%.

The following year, Charles de Gaulle consulted the French people on the Evian Accords of March 18, 1962, which included a ceasefire in Algeria . "This time, it was a matter of authorizing the President of the Republic to negotiate a treaty with the future Algerian government," stated vie-publique. The "yes" vote won by a landslide, with 90.81% of the vote. The abstention rate was slightly lower than in 1961, at 24.66%.

Six months after his initial success, Charles de Gaulle once again gave the French people a voice. This time, they decided on a constitutional point: should the head of state be elected by direct universal suffrage? Until then, he had been elected by indirect universal suffrage by a college of approximately 80,000 electors. After an "extremely lively" campaign, according to Vie Publique, the "yes" vote received 62.25%, and abstention fell to 23.03%.

This was the fourth election in this format under the presidency of Charles de Gaulle. On paper, it was a question of Senate reform and an expansion of regional powers. In practice, it became a referendum on whether or not Charles de Gaulle would remain in power, since he had pledged to resign in the event of defeat. The "no" vote won by 52.41%, with a low abstention rate of 19.87%. The head of state left his post on April 28, 1969.

This would be the only referendum held under the presidency of Georges Pompidou (1969-1974). On April 23, 1972, the French were asked to vote on an enlargement of the European Economic Community (EEC), the precursor to the European Union (EU) on the economic side, to include Denmark, Norway, Ireland, and Great Britain. The "yes" vote received 68.32% of the vote, with a significant abstention rate of 39.76%.

This first referendum by François Mitterrand comes a few months after the Matignon Accords, which restored calm to New Caledonia . It aims to ratify these agreements and to provide for the organization of a self-determination vote in New Caledonia within ten years. Once again, the "yes" vote came out on top with 79.99% of the vote. Abstention, however, is very high: 63.11%. The RPR had called for a no-decision, recalls vie-publique.

On September 20, 1992, the French people were asked to vote on the Maastricht Treaty, the founding text of the European Union (EU). As vie-publique noted, "the campaign was extremely lively, and the debate, quite unexpectedly for such a difficult subject, both fascinated and divided the French." In the end, the "yes" side narrowly edged out the "no," with 51.04% of the vote. Abstentions stood at 30.3%.

Until then, the President of the Republic was elected for a seven-year term. But on September 24, 2000, Jacques Chirac called on the French people to vote on reducing the presidential term to five years. The "yes" vote was overwhelmingly 73.21%, with a very high abstention rate—the highest in a referendum under the Fifth Republic—at 69.81%. This constitutional amendment was therefore adopted: on May 5, 2002, Jacques Chirac became the first president elected for only five years.

This was the third referendum on Europe, after 1972 and 1992. Jacques Chirac deferred to the French people regarding the draft treaty aimed at establishing a Constitution for Europe. He therefore decided not to go through the parliamentary process. The "no" vote was the majority for the second time in the history of the Fifth Republic (54.67%), while abstention stood at 30.63%.