Earlier in the week, Prince Albert II of Monaco exercised a power almost unseen in modern Europe: he refused to sign a bill passed overwhelmingly by the National Council to liberalise abortion. While the action is entirely within Monaco’s constitution, it raises uncomfortable questions about the balance between monarchy and democracy in the 21st century.
The proposed legislation was carefully considered and supported by 19 of 21 deputies. It would have allowed terminations up to 12 weeks, or 16 weeks in cases of rape, and reduced the age of parental consent – changes that mirror reforms long since accepted in neighbouring countries. Yet a single individual, albeit a sovereign, has halted its progress.
Supporters of the Prince’s decision will cite tradition, the Catholic identity of the principality, and the historical powers vested in the monarchy. But in a state where laws are debated and passed by elected representatives, should the personal conscience of one man be able to override the collective will of the people? This is not merely a question of abortion policy; it is a question about democratic legitimacy itself.
Europe has moved largely past these royal interventions. Belgium found a workaround when King Baudouin refused to sign an abortion law in 1990, Luxembourg amended its constitution after the Grand Duke blocked a euthanasia bill, and most constitutional monarchies have reduced assent to ceremonial form. Monaco, by contrast, allows the sovereign to veto legislation outright – and now, for the first time in living memory, that power has been exercised publicly.
The National Council is left with limited options. It could attempt to revise the bill, but the fundamental tension remains: in Monaco, the constitution still allows a single unelected individual to nullify the decisions of elected representatives. That is a power Europe’s democracies have long deemed extraordinary – for good reason.
It may be lawful. It may be traditional. But in an era when citizens increasingly expect their votes to matter, it is hard to see this as anything other than a step backwards. Democracies thrive when parliaments decide laws; monarchs are meant to reign, not legislate. The people of Monaco, and Europe at large, deserve clarity: a vote that counts only when it pleases a sovereign is no vote at all.
