France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, a civil solidarity pact (), commonly known as a ''PACS'' (), is a contractual form of

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with ch ...

between two adults for organising their joint life. It brings rights and responsibilities, but less so than

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

. The PACS was voted for by the

French Parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...

in October 1999, largely to offer some legal status to same-sex couples. From a legal standpoint, a PACS is a contract drawn up between the two individuals, which is stamped and registered by the clerk of the court. In some areas, couples signing a PACS have the option of undergoing a formal ceremony at the

city hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

identical to that of civil marriage. Since 2006, individuals who have registered a PACS are no longer considered '' single'' in terms of their marital status; their birth records will be amended to show their status as '' pacsé''. PACS remain available to both same and opposite-sex couples despite the introduction of marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples in May 2013.

History

The

French National Assembly The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

failed to pass PACS in October 1998. The law was proposed by the left-of-center government of

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Lionel Jospin, and was very vocally opposed by people, mostly on the

right-wing Right-wing politics is the range of political ideologies that view certain social orders and hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position based on natural law, economics, authority, property ...

, who opposed LGBT rights. Those, such as Christine Boutin and Philippe de Villiers, argued that PACS and the recognition of homosexual unions would be disastrous for French society. Only one right-wing deputy, Roselyne Bachelot, declared herself in favour of PACS. The law (''Loi n°99-944 du 15 novembre 1999 relative au pacte civil de solidarité'') was voted by the

in November 1999 following some controversy. The debate is remembered for a few incidents, such as when Christine Boutin attempted to

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...

the bill by speaking for five hours in the

, and at some point waved a Christian

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

in the direction of the speaker of the Assembly—a surprising gesture in a country where ''

laïcité (; 'secularism') is the constitutional principle of secularism in France. Article 1 of the French Constitution is commonly interpreted as the separation of civil society and religious society. It discourages religious involvement in governmen ...

'' (implying no intervention of religion into political matters) is specified in the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

. Christine Boutin also said, "All civilizations that recognized and justified

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

as a normal lifestyle met decadence." Anti-PACS proponents also staged a series of street protests, but the turnout, by their own admission, was disappointingly low. At its creation,

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, ; ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and 1986 to 1988, as well as Mayor of Pari ...

described PACS as "not adapted to the needs of families". However, most initial opponents now widely accept the PACS (including Jacques Chirac and Christine Boutin, who publicly changed their minds). It was to be a marked improvement and alternative over the previous ''certificat de concubinage notoire'', which had minimal rights (and responsibilities) and had been seen as having pejorative overtones. The situation of ''concubinage'' only made certain benefits extend to the other partner in a union, and did not settle any issue regarding property, taxes, etc. Initially, PACS offered the right to file joint

income tax An income tax is a tax imposed on individuals or entities (taxpayers) in respect of the income or profits earned by them (commonly called taxable income). Income tax generally is computed as the product of a tax rate times the taxable income. Tax ...

es only after three years. As of 2005, all PACS couples are required to file joint taxes, in the same manner as married couples. Due to the way that the

progressive tax A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases. The term ''progressive'' refers to the way the tax rate progresses from low to high, with the result that a taxpayer's average tax rate is less than the ...

is applied in France, a couple filing joint income taxes, in almost all cases, pays less tax than they would filing separately if one of the partners earns substantially more than the other.

Wealth tax A wealth tax (also called a capital tax or equity tax) is a tax on an entity's holdings of assets or an entity's net worth. This includes the total value of personal assets, including cash, bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and ...

(the Impôt de solidarité sur la fortune) has been applied to the combined assets of both partners since the introduction of the PACS in 1999. In 2004, PACS was described in a report to the Garde des Sceaux (minister for justice) as "a new way of conjugality, answering many needs and inscribed in continuity". In December 2004, the French Government began preparations for expanding the rights granted in PACS. French

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

groups considered it a tactic for avoiding debate on

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

. A parliamentary "Report on the Family and the Rights of Children" was released on 25 January 2006. Although the committee recommended increasing some rights given in PACS in areas such as

property rights The right to property, or the right to own property (cf. ownership), is often classified as a human right for natural persons regarding their Possession (law), possessions. A general recognition of a right to private property is found more rarely ...

, laws of succession and taxation, it recommended maintaining prohibitions against marriage,

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, fro ...

, and access to medically assisted reproduction for same-sex couples. Because of this, left-wing members of the committee rejected the report. The report also argued that the differences in rights between concubinage, PACS and marriage reflect different levels of commitment and obligations on the part of the couples who enter into them. The committee renewed its support for this tiered system and recommended that the various rights and obligations of each type of union be clearly explained to couples when they register for a PACS, marry, or have a child.

Figures

According to the 2004 Demographic Report by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies ( Insee), the number of marriages in France had fallen each year since 2000. 266,000 civil marriages took place in 2004, a decline of 5.9% from 2003. However, the report found that the number of couples getting PACS had increased every year except 2001. There was a 29% increase in PACS between 2001 and 2002 and a 25% increase between 2002 and 2003. For the first 9 months of 2004, 27,000 PACS were signed compared to 22,000 in 2003. The report found that one PACS in 10 had been dissolved (less than divorces for couples married for the same period, for which one marriage in three will be dissolved by divorce or separation after the first 3 years during which most signed PACS are dissolved before becoming more stable than marriages). A parliamentary report released in January 2006 said a total of around 170,000 PACS had been signed.

New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna

In April 2009, the

voted to approve the extension of PACS to two French overseas collectivities:

New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...

and

Wallis and Futuna Wallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands (), is a French island territorial collectivity, collectivity in the Oceania, South Pacific, situated between Tuvalu to the northwest, Fiji to the southwest, Tonga t ...

. Thus, couples in New Caledonia and Wallis and Futuna are able to enter a PACS in the same way as couples in

Metropolitan France Metropolitan France ( or ), also known as European France (), is the area of France which is geographically in Europe and chiefly comprises #Hexagon, the mainland, popularly known as "the Hexagon" ( or ), and Corsica. This collective name for the ...

. Given their autonomous status, these collectivities did not automatically begin performing PACS when they were introduced in

in 1999.

French Polynesia French Polynesia ( ; ; ) is an overseas collectivity of France and its sole #Governance, overseas country. It comprises 121 geographically dispersed islands and atolls stretching over more than in the Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean. The t ...

is the only collectivity where PACS cannot be performed.

Current trends

Although the law was passed with same-sex couples in mind, the great majority of couples taking advantage have been heterosexual couples who, for one reason or another, choose civil union rather than marriage; moreover, more heterosexual couples are opting for civil union rather than marriage. In fact, this trend was already in place in 2000, with 75% of unions between heterosexual couples (42% the previous years) and 95% in 2009. The process is commonly referred to as '' se pacser'' (, ''getting PACSed'').

References

External links

*
Text of the law
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacte Civil De Solidarite

Civil solidarity pact In France, a civil solidarity pact (), commonly known as a ''PACS'' (), is a contractual form of civil union between two adults for organising their joint life. It brings rights and responsibilities, but less so than marriage. The PACS was voted ...