French “Defence and National Security Council” and Fifth Republic President's Role In Defence Policy

The chapter aims to focus on the French “Defence and National Security Council” (CDSN). This is a collegial body, chaired every week by the president of the Republic, to coordinate the national defence and security policy and in the past, in a different form, was competent in matters of defence and military strategy. During the pandemic emergency of 2020, the council was transformed by the president into the place where the main operational decisions were adopted with methods similar to those adopted in the military sphere, which, as they lack transparency and publicity, turned out to be totally different from those normally expected for the Council of Ministers. This chapter, after investigating the evolution experienced by the CDSN within the French institutional system, focuses on its progressive transformation into a tool available to the head of state to manage any type of crisis brought to the attention of the executive and how its presence favours the concentration of power in the president of the Republic.