Absentee senators to have pay docked

SENATORS who fail to turn up will have their pay docked under newly approved plans to reform France's upper house of parliament.

All but a handful of communist senators gave their backing to the rules, put forward by the Senate's president Gérard Larcher, which also halve the time limit for speeches from 20 to 10 minutes.

From October 1, any senator who misses more than half of votes in a three-month period will have their pay docked by €2,100. The penalty would also apply if they fail to attend half of sessions or half of committee meetings on which they sit.

The worst offenders, who do not turn up for more than half of all the above - votes, sessions and committee meetings - would also lose their €3,000 a month indemnité de fonction, meaning €11,100 each quarter.

By way of an example, according to the site NosSenateurs.fr - which tracks senators' activity in the house - Jean-Noël Guérini managed seven weeks' work last year and never spoke, although he did submit 64 written questions to the government.

The attendance rules will be more flexible for senators based in France's overseas territories - and will not apply at all to anyone on parental leave or with a long-term illness.

The other approved measure will limit the amount of time senators have to introduce a new draft law to the house from 20 minutes to 10. Putting forward an amendment must be done in 2 minutes 30 instead of five.