Europe 1 with AFP 11:45 a.m., March 8, 2024

Emmanuel Macron will preside over the sealing ceremony at midday.

A rare event which will make it possible to formalize a change in the Constitution, in this case the registration of abortion.

A historic ceremony in several respects, since it is the first to be held in public.

Without forgetting that it takes place on March 8, International Women's Day.

Follow the situation live. 

A highly symbolic ceremony.

After the historic vote of Congress on Monday including abortion in the Constitution, Emmanuel Macron will preside over the sealing ceremony scheduled for noon.

An act all the stronger on this March 8, International Women's Rights Day, which makes it possible to formalize a modification of the Constitution.

Furthermore, for the first time, this ceremony takes place in public.

Emmanuel Macron speak following this rare event, since there have been only 14 sealings since 1946. Follow the situation live. 

The main information to remember: 

  • Emmanuel Macron will put a wax seal on the text which constitutionalizes abortion

  • The sealing ceremony will be held in public, a first

A tradition whose origins date back to the Merovingian era

The sealing ceremony is actually an extension of a French tradition that dates back to the Merovingians.

“Sealing” guarantees the authenticity of a text, and makes it possible to make a modification of the Constitution official.

It takes place at the Ministry of Justice, Place Vendôme in Paris.

And so, for the first time in history, everyone will be able to attend this ceremony in front of the Chancellery because it will be open to the public.

It is scheduled for this Friday from noon.

Just before, Emmanuel Macron is expected to speak.

14 sealings since 1946

There have been fourteen “sealings” of laws since 1946.

These were almost always revised Constitutions.

But a text of great symbolic significance such as that of October 9, 1981 abolishing the death penalty was also sealed.

It is always the Keepers of the Seals who give the final turn of the screw to the sealing press.

During the last revision, in 2008, the current head of state - at the time Nicolas Sarkozy - went to the Chancellery for the first time to attend the ceremony.

The wax seal, which was yellow for a long time, has been green since 2002. It is the symbol of the Second Republic which is affixed: on the front side, Marianne surrounded by republican symbols, and on the reverse the motto "in the name of the French people" .

Two copies are sealed, one goes to the national archives and the other to the general secretariat of the government.