Prime Minister of France (Age of Empires)

The **Prime Minister of France,** sometimes shortened to **premier,** and formally called the **President of the Council of Ministers** is is the head of the executive branch of the Government of France. During the Ancien Régime the First Minister served head of government separate from its head of state, namely the monarch, in whom the executive authority was vested. The Constitutional Charter of 1814 established a constitutional monarchy by limiting the powers of the monarch and creating the office of the President of the Council of Ministers.

The prime minister chairs the Council of Ministers and selects its ministers. The prime minister presides over a cabinet that is formally appointed by the monarch, and advises the monarch on the exercise of much of the crown's constitutional powers. The Monarch appoints but cannot dismiss the prime minister by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the Chamber of Deputies, they typically sit as are indirectly elected by the elected and lead the largest party or a coalition in the Chamber of Deputies. The Current Prime Minister is Yves-Marie Adeline.

## Appointment

### Royal confirmation and Appointment

The day after the federal elections, the incumbent Prime Minister offers the resignation of his government to the Monarch. The Monarch then asks the resigning government to continue as a caretaker government until a new government is formed. The Monarch then consults a number of prominent politicians in order to ascertain the different possibilities of forming a government. With no party having held a majority in over a century, parties form alliances. Usually, the Social Democrats join with centre-left parties, and Liberal-Conservatives with centre-right parties.

The Monarch then appoints an *informateur* who is in charge of collecting information from the different political parties about their demands for formation of a new government. After these consultations, the *informateur* reports to the Monarch so that the Monarch can find a suitable *formateur*, who is responsible for forming the government. Usually, it is the *formateur* of the federal government who then becomes Prime Minister. The new prime minister-elect, together with the leaders of the junior parties, select ministers to form a new coalition cabinet, which is the presented to the monarch. The prime minister then recommends the Cabinet to the Monarch who confirms the selection by formally appointing them to their offices.

## Function

### Role

The Constitutional Charter of 1814 states that the monarch, who is the head of state, has supreme authority and acts out this power through their ministers. However, the modern role of the Monarch is symbolic only, and conducts a nominal role in governmental affairs. Per the Constitution, the Monarch's actions are only valid with the countersignature of a minister. And cannot act without the consent of his/her cabinet. For this reason, the outgoing Prime Minister countersigns the Act of Appointment of the new Prime Minister, and the new Prime Minister countersigns the Act of Resignation of the resigning Prime Minister.

As the President of the Council of Ministers, the modern Prime Minister leads the Cabinet (the Council of Ministers). The prime minister chairs the weekly meetings of the cabinet meetings and has the power to set the agenda of these meetings.