Premier Ministre

   The role of Prime Minister in France is not the same as that of the Prime Minister of Britain. While the British Prime Minister is politically (though not constitutionally) Britain's head of state, the French Prime Minister is only the head of the French government, and nominated as such by the President. Weekly meetings of the French cabinet (see Conseil des Ministres) are therefore presided over by the President, not by the Prime Minister. When President and Prime Minister are of the same political leaning ("left" or "right"), government policy will tend to be lead by the two; when they are from different political families (a situation known as cohabitation), the Prime Minister's role and decision-making power are considerably strengthened. The Prime Minister is responsible for forming the government, but the list of names has to be approved by the President. See Balladur, Barre, Chaban Delmas, Chirac, Jospin, Raffarin, Rocard, etc.