Proposed in Nicolas Sarkozy's manifesto during the French presidential election of 2007, the stated goal of the changes was to modernise the institutions of the Fifth Republic.
The Comité de réflexion et de proposition sur la modernisation et le rééquilibrage des institutions,[1] (literally : "A committee of reflection and proposal on the modernisation and the re-balancing of the institutions"), presided over by Édouard Balladur, a former Prime Minister, was established in July 2007.
It was composed primarily of constitutional jurists and political personalities with legal competence.
The press drew attention to the aye vote of Jack Lang, who had broken with his party whip.
Otherwise, in order to make the terminology intelligible to at least some English speakers, terms used in the United Kingdom parliament are substituted.