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French Phrase of the Day: Quarante-neuf trois

Why do I need to know quarante-neuf trois? Because you might hear this string of numbers shouted about when walking through a French protest. What does it mean? Quarante-neuf trois - roughly pronounced kah-rahnt nuff twah - may seem like three random numbers put together, but this phrase has a specific meaning in France. When written, le quarante-neuf trois looks like '49.3', but when spoken people tend to omit the 'point' part. It is a reference to an article in the French constitution which gives the French prime minister the power to pass a bill without parliamentary support. Article 49.3 states that 'the French Prime Minister can, upon discussing with the conseil des ministres (the cabinet) unilaterally pass any bill relating to financial or social security issues without consulting parliament". If a bill is pushed through in this manner, then only a motion de censure (motion of no confidence) signed by at least 10 percent of members (58 MPs) filed within 24 hours can prevent it from being adopted. As such, the use of Article 49.3 is often controversial, as it implies that the piece of legislation lacks broad enough support to be voted on in the traditional way. For example, it was used to push through the first part of pension reform in 2019, much to the chagrin of the political opposition. If you go to protests against the ruling party or president in France, you'll see signs decrying 49.3 as a denial of democracy. However, as a tool, it has been used by people from both sides of the political spectrum when attempting to push forward their agenda. Most French people can't recite chapter and verse of the constitution, but '49.3' is so well known and commonly referenced that it's even used as a joke in the new Asterix cartoon series. Advertisement Use it like this Le quarante-neuf trois fait toujours débat en France. Je pense que le gouvernement devrait l'utiliser avec modération. - Article 49.3 always causes a debate in France. I think the government should use it sparingly. S'il utilise le quarante-neuf trois, je suis sûr que cela déclenchera une motion de censure. - If he uses Article 49.3 [to pass the bill], I'm sure it will trigger a vote of no confidence. Not to be confused with Le neuf trois - if you hear people talking about 'the nine three', that is a geographical or sometimes cultural reference, referring to the Seine-Saint-Denis département on the outskirts of Paris. All French départements have two-digit numerical designations, but Seine-Saint-Denis is an exception to how they are spoken .