Palais d’Iéna - ESEC headquarters Paris

The Economic, Social and Environmental Council (ESEC) is the third assembly of the FrenchRepublic with the National Assembly and the Senate. The ESEC comprises 233 members and72 qualified members. It is divided into three major clusters representing the actors ofeconomic matters and social dialogue; the actors of social and territorial cohesion andcommunity life (disability, sports, sciences and culture are represented as qualifiedpersonalities). In the spirit of the Grenelle Environment Forum, the last group is made ofrepresentatives chosen for their experience in environmental protection and sustainabledevelopment.

The Council encourages dialogue between social and occupational categories, contributes tothe assessment of public policies within its fields of expertise, promotes a constructivedialogue with its counterparts at a local, regional as well as international level and contributesto informing citizens. The ESEC plays a vital role in the period of economic, social andenvironmental change that we are living: it is both a whistleblower at the institutional leveland an interface between civil society and politicians. To meet its objectives, the Council maybe appealed to by either the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the National Assembly or theSenate President, through petition or by self-referral.