Communist, Republican, Citizen and Ecologist group

The Communist, Republican, Citizen and Ecologist group (French: groupe communiste, républicain, citoyen et ecologiste) is a parliamentary group in the French Senate, the indirectly elected upper house of the French Parliament. Unlike most other parliamentary groups in the Senate, it counts mostly of only the Senators of one party, the French Communist Party, among its members.

Communist, Republican, Citizen and Ecologist group Groupe communiste, républicain, citoyen et ecologiste
Chamber	Senate
Previous name(s)	Communist group (1959–1995) Groupe communiste Communist, Republican, Citizen and Senators of the Left Party group (2008–2011) Groupe communiste, républicain, citoyen et des sénateurs du Parti de gauche Communist, Republican, and Citizen group (2011–2017) Groupe communiste, républicain, et citoyen
Member parties	PCF
President	Éliane Assassi
Constituency	Seine-Saint-Denis
Representation	15 / 348
Ideology	Communism
Website	https://senateurscrce.fr/

History

The first and only parliamentary group of communists in the Senate of the Third Republic was formed following the 1938 senatorial elections, with two members.^[1] A communist group existed through the duration of the Fourth Republic in the Council of the Republic, with 74 seats following senatorial elections on 8 December 1946,^[2] 17 seats following senatorial elections on 7 November 1948,^[3] 16 seats following senatorial elections on 18 May 1952,^[4] 14 seats following senatorial elections on 19 June 1955,^[5] and 16 seats following senatorial elections on 8 June 1958.^[6]

In the Fifth Republic, Jacques Duclos served as the first leader of the communist group (groupe communiste) in the Senate.^[7] After the death of Duclos on 25 April 1975,^[8] Marie-Thérèse Goutmann took over the presidency of the group on 20 May 1975,^[9] becoming the first woman to preside over a parliamentary group.^[10] She subsequently sought to become a deputy in the National Assembly in the 1978 legislative elections; due to irregularities which resulted in the invalidation of the original result by the Constitutional Council, however, a by-election was held on 16 and 23 July which ultimately resulted in her election to the assembly and departure from the Senate;^[11][12] as such, though Marcel Rosette became the new president of the group on 6 April,^[13] Goutmann was obligated to continue to sit in the Senate until the Constitutional Council later confirmed her election to the National Assembly.^[14] She remained president of the group for only a year, and was replaced by Hélène Luc on 19 December 1979.^[15] The communist group expanded to include 24 members after the 1983 renewal,^[16] the highest number ever attained by the communist group.^[17] On 28 September, Hélène Luc announced that the group would be renamed to the Communist, Republican and Citizen group (groupe communiste, républicain et citoyen), abbreviated CRC, presenting it as an "opening to the people of progress"; specifically, it allowed Paul Loridant, member of the Movement of Citizens of Jean-Pierre Chevènement, to join the group.^[18]

Luc's stint as president of the group ended on 3 April 2001;^[19] she was succeeded by Nicole Borvo.^[20] On 26 November 2008, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and François Autain, who left the Socialist Party (PS) to found the Left Party, joined the group, which was then renamed to the Communist, Republican, Citizen and Senators of the Left Party group (groupe communiste, républicain, citoyen et des sénateurs du Parti de gauche), abbreviated CRC–SPG.^[21] However, after Jean-Luc Mélenchon was elected to the European Parliament after the 2009 elections, he vacated his seat in the Senate on 7 January 2010,^[22] and after Autain lost his seat in the Senate in the renewal of seats during the senatorial elections on 25 September 2011, the group reverted to its original name.^[23] On 19 September 2012, Nicole Borvo Cohen-Seat resigned from the Senate,^[24] and was succeeded by Eliane Assassi, who was elected president of the CRC group the same day.^[25] The group was renamed to the Communist, Republican, Citizen and Ecologist group (groupe communiste, républicain, citoyen et ecologiste) after the 2017 renewal, when it was joined by the ecologist senators Esther Benbassa, Guillaume Gontard, and Pierre-Yves Collombat.^[26]

List of presidents

Name	Term start	Term end	Notes
Jacques Duclos	26 April 1959	25 April 1975	[27][7][8]
Marie-Thérèse Goutmann	20 May 1975	6 April 1978	[9][13]
Marcel Rosette	6 April 1978	19 December 1979	[13][15]
Hélène Luc	19 December 1979	3 April 2001	[15][19]
Nicole Borvo Cohen-Seat	4 April 2001	19 September 2012	[20][24]
Éliane Assassi	19 September 2012	present	[25]

Historical membership

Year	Seats	Change	Series	Notes
1959	14 / 307		–	[27]
1962	14 / 274		A	[28]
1965	14 / 274		B	[29]
1968	18 / 283	4	C	[30]
1971	18 / 283		A	[31]
1974	20 / 283	2	B	[32]
1977	23 / 295	3	C	[33]
1980	23 / 305		A	[34]
1983	24 / 317	1	B	[16]
1986	15 / 319	9	C	[35]
1989	16 / 321	1	A	[36]
1992	15 / 321	1	B	[37]
1995	15 / 321		C	[38]
1998	16 / 321	1	A	[39]
2001	23 / 321	7	B	[40]
2004	23 / 331		C	[41]
2008	23 / 343		A	[42]
2011	21 / 348	2	1	[43]
2014	18 / 348	3	2	[44]
2017	15 / 348	3	1	[45]
2020	15 / 348		2

See also

• France portal

• Democratic and Republican Left group

References

1. Bonnefous, Georges; Bonnefous, Édouard (1986). Histoire politique de la Troisième République : Vers la guerre, du Front populaire à la conférence de Munich, 1936–1938. Vol. 6. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France. p. 436.
2. "Composition du Conseil de la République – 8 décembre 1946" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
3. "Composition du Conseil de la République – 7 novembre 1948" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
4. "Composition du Conseil de la République – 18 mai 1952" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
5. "Composition du Conseil de la République – 19 juin 1955" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
6. "Composition du Conseil de la République – 8 juin 1958" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
7. "MM. Jacques Duclos et Jean Bertaud présidents des groupes communiste et U. N. R, du Sénat". Le Monde. 2 May 1959. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
8. André Laurens (28 April 1975). "La " mémoire du parti "". Le Monde. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
9. "Compte rendu intégral – 16^e seance" (PDF). Sénat. 20 May 1975. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
10. "Mme GOUTMANN SUCCÈDE À JACQUES DUCLOS À LA TÊTE DU GROUPE COMMUNISTE DU SÉNAT". Le Monde. 17 May 1975. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
11. "M. JACQUES CHIRAC A EU UN ENTRETIEN DE QUARANTE MINUTES AVEC LE SOUVERAIN PONTIFE". Le Monde. 8 July 1978. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
12. "Anciens sénateurs Vème République : GOUTMANN Marie-Thérèse". Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
13. "Compte rendu intégral – 2^e seance" (PDF). Sénat. 6 April 1978. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
14. "Compte rendu intégral – 1^re seance" (PDF). Sénat. 3 April 1978. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
15. "Compte rendu intégral – 53^e seance" (PDF). Sénat. 19 December 1979. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
16. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1983" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
17. "Les groupes politiques au Sénat sous la Ve République". Sénat. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
18. "Les députés voteront sur la politique sociale le 14 novembre". Le Monde. 30 September 1995. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
19. "Extrait de la table nominative 2001". Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
20. "Informations sur la composition et les activités du Sénat". Sénat. 31 December 2001. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
21. "Mélenchon rejoint le groupe communiste du Sénat". Le Nouvel Observateur. 26 November 2008. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
22. "Informations sur la composition et les activités du Sénat au 31 décembre 2010". Sénat. 31 December 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
23. "Informations sur la composition et les activités du Sénat au samedi 31 décembre 2011". Sénat. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
24. "Anciens sénateurs Vème République : BORVO COHEN-SEAT Nicole". Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
25. "Entretien avec Eliane Assassi, nouvelle présidente du groupe CRC". Sénat. Archived from the original on 4 October 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
26. "Sénat : Un groupe réunira les communistes et les écologistes". Libération. 3 October 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2017.
27. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1959" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
28. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1962" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
29. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1965" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
30. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1968" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
31. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1971" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
32. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1974" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
33. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1977" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
34. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1980" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
35. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1986" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
36. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1989" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
37. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1992" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
38. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1995" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
39. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 1998" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
40. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 2001" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
41. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 2004" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
42. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 2008" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
43. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 2011" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
44. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 2014" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 27 June 2017.
45. "Nombre de sièges au Sénat en 2017" (PDF). Sénat. Retrieved 16 October 2017.

External links

• Lists of senators by political group (in French)
• Historical composition of the Senate and political groups (in French)