Le conseguenze costituzionali dell’irruzione di En marche!: una decisione del Conseil constitutionnel sull’accesso ai media durante la campagna elettorale

This case note analyses Decision no. 2017-651 QPC of the French Conseil constitutionnel. The decision was issued in the run-up to the legislative election of June 2017. En marche!, the brand new political movement established by Emmanuel Macron, the freshly elected President of the Republic, challenged the administration decision laying down the total broadcasting times allocated to each political party before the Conseil d’État. After a request for a priority preliminary ruling was raised, the Conseil constitutionnel reviewed the legislative provisions regulating the allocation of broadcasting times during the legislative election campaign and declared them unconstitutional. Since those provisions disproportionately favoured established parliamentary parties over outsider parties, they were found in violation of the constitutional principles of pluralism and equal suffrage.