Parliamentary commissions of inquiry: a valuable tool that needs to be better regulated
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There has been an acceleration in the number of commissions of inquiry in the National Assembly. They have increased from 17 during the 14th legislature (2012-2017) to 20 during the two years of the 16th legislature (from June 2022 to 2024). Xose Bouzas / Hans Lucas/AFP
Following Prime Minister François Bayrou's May 14 hearing on the Bétharram affair, more and more voices are being raised against the political exploitation of parliamentary commissions of inquiry. There are ways to preserve these useful levers for democratic work.
Are there too many parliamentary commissions of inquiry? This question was revived on May 14 by the highly publicized hearing of Prime Minister François Bayrou on the Bétharram affair. "Each political group has the right to hold one commission of inquiry per year. In addition, I have commissions of inquiry that are voted on in the chamber (and) standing committees that are transformed into commissions of inquiry. It's starting to become a lot," said the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, on May 18 on France 3, calling for "care not to misuse" this "formidable parliamentary working tool."
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