Sensemaking
#18Key Findings
France falls into the lower-middle ranks internationally (rank 18) with respect to sensemaking.
The central government has a strong strategic foresight apparatus, with various services attached to the Prime Minister’s Office. The France Stratégie unit develops future scenarios, while specialized agencies the issues of pensions, employment and the economy.
Despite some interest in regulatory impact assessments (RIAs), there is no systematic process in place. Evaluations of public policies are mostly optional. France Stratégie has produced guidelines for evaluating policy impact, but they are rarely followed. The long-term France 2030 strategy has a sustainability focus, but also entails limited use of RIA.
Ex post evaluations have been more commonly used, but are not systematically applied unless required by law. In recent decades, the Court of Accounts has shifted away from a purely legal focus and begun evaluating existing policies from political, social, economic and financial perspectives.
The central government has a strong strategic foresight apparatus, with various services attached to the Prime Minister’s Office. The France Stratégie unit develops future scenarios, while specialized agencies the issues of pensions, employment and the economy.
Despite some interest in regulatory impact assessments (RIAs), there is no systematic process in place. Evaluations of public policies are mostly optional. France Stratégie has produced guidelines for evaluating policy impact, but they are rarely followed. The long-term France 2030 strategy has a sustainability focus, but also entails limited use of RIA.
Ex post evaluations have been more commonly used, but are not systematically applied unless required by law. In recent decades, the Court of Accounts has shifted away from a purely legal focus and begun evaluating existing policies from political, social, economic and financial perspectives.
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To what extent can the central government foster the capacity for strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation within its organization?
10
9
9
The central government can foster the capacity for strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation within its organization.
8
7
6
7
6
Most of the time, the central government can foster the capacity for strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation within its organization.
5
4
3
4
3
The central government is rarely capable of fostering the capacity for strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation within its organization.
2
1
1
The central government is not capable of fostering the capacity for strategic foresight and anticipatory innovation within its organization.
The central government is able to rely on a substantial apparatus for strategic foresight. Several services in this area are attached to the prime ministerial office. France Stratégie prominently provides the government with expertise in this respect, and holds a mandate to elaborate scenarios for the future. More specialized agencies focus on the areas of pensions (Conseil d’Orientation pour les Retraites), employment (Conseil d’Orientation pour l’Emploi) and the economy in general (Conseil d’Analyse Économique). Many ministries also have statistical offices and analytical teams.
Leveraging data with the aim of improving services and impacting society as a whole has also been a key policy goal in recent years. The Direction Interministérielle du Numérique (DINUM) is an interministerial task force for the digital transformation of government. The portal data.gouv offers a repository of publicly available data from public authorities. More generally, the digital transformation of government has been pushed quite far, even leading to discussions about whether all citizens have the capacity to exercise their rights in such an environment. Coordination and the actual capacity to process all this information have also been regularly lacking.
Policy experimentation has been popularized as a form of testing new policies in all domains. However, this is most often viewed as a testing ground for a new policy rather than actual randomized controlled trials. Such experiments have sometimes been implemented in partnership with academic researchers, but these remain very limited in scope. In most cases, civil servants are not accustomed to this type of technique, and access to the highest-ranked civil servants still follows a rather traditional pattern of competition (Babinet 2020).
Overall, these transformations of the modes of governance have had a limited impact on public management. If new public management has had tremendous consequences for the workings of public authorities, the bureaucratic culture has not wholly adopted effective strategic foresight.
Citations:
Babinet, G. 2020. Refondre les politiques publiques avec le numérique. Paris: Dunod.
Leveraging data with the aim of improving services and impacting society as a whole has also been a key policy goal in recent years. The Direction Interministérielle du Numérique (DINUM) is an interministerial task force for the digital transformation of government. The portal data.gouv offers a repository of publicly available data from public authorities. More generally, the digital transformation of government has been pushed quite far, even leading to discussions about whether all citizens have the capacity to exercise their rights in such an environment. Coordination and the actual capacity to process all this information have also been regularly lacking.
Policy experimentation has been popularized as a form of testing new policies in all domains. However, this is most often viewed as a testing ground for a new policy rather than actual randomized controlled trials. Such experiments have sometimes been implemented in partnership with academic researchers, but these remain very limited in scope. In most cases, civil servants are not accustomed to this type of technique, and access to the highest-ranked civil servants still follows a rather traditional pattern of competition (Babinet 2020).
Overall, these transformations of the modes of governance have had a limited impact on public management. If new public management has had tremendous consequences for the workings of public authorities, the bureaucratic culture has not wholly adopted effective strategic foresight.
Citations:
Babinet, G. 2020. Refondre les politiques publiques avec le numérique. Paris: Dunod.
Graph View
To what extent does the government conduct high-quality impact assessments to evaluate the potential effects of prepared legislation before implementation?
10
9
9
The government draws on high-quality RIAs to assess the potential impact of prepared legislation before implementation.
8
7
6
7
6
In most cases, the government draws on high-quality RIAs to assess the potential impact of prepared legislation before implementation.
5
4
3
4
3
The government rarely draws on high-quality RIAs to assess the potential impact of prepared legislation before implementation.
2
1
1
The government does not draw on high-quality RIAs to assess the potential impact of prepared legislation before implementation.
The practice of compiling regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) has been followed since the 1990s, notably under the supervision of the PMO. This is one of the missions of parliament, in accordance with Article 24 of the constitution (amendment of 2008). Yet despite a growing interest in them, there is still no systematic RIA process, with comparable rules and methodologies. RIA processes remain largely optional and generally focus on social policies (Desplatz and Lacouette Fougère 2019). There are also partial substitutes, however. The finance and budget ministries try to systematically evaluate the fiscal impact of any new measure.
More recently, the government think tank France Stratégie has been charged with evaluating the impact of public policies. The think tank has published methodological guidelines for evaluating public policies, but these are seldom followed. Last-minute amendments to parliamentary bills tend not to be subject to this type of evaluation. This necessitates frequent post facto modifications to legislation, as unexpected or collateral effects have not been properly anticipated. The Court of Accounts produces regulatory assessments on an ex post basis that might help to revise legislation, but it cannot provide the benefits of an anticipatory strategy.
What is lacking is a systematic examination involving all the main stakeholders. The role of the Conseil économique, Social et Environnemental – which has been designed for this purpose – is generally considered too limited.
Citations:
Desplatz, R., and Lacouette Fougère, C. 2019. “L’évaluation des politiques publiques en France.” Document de travail France Stratégie 13. Retrieved 15 January 2024 at https://www.strategie.gouv.fr/sites/strategie.gouv.fr/files/atoms/files/fs-dt-13-evaluation-france_19_decembre_2019.pdf
More recently, the government think tank France Stratégie has been charged with evaluating the impact of public policies. The think tank has published methodological guidelines for evaluating public policies, but these are seldom followed. Last-minute amendments to parliamentary bills tend not to be subject to this type of evaluation. This necessitates frequent post facto modifications to legislation, as unexpected or collateral effects have not been properly anticipated. The Court of Accounts produces regulatory assessments on an ex post basis that might help to revise legislation, but it cannot provide the benefits of an anticipatory strategy.
What is lacking is a systematic examination involving all the main stakeholders. The role of the Conseil économique, Social et Environnemental – which has been designed for this purpose – is generally considered too limited.
Citations:
Desplatz, R., and Lacouette Fougère, C. 2019. “L’évaluation des politiques publiques en France.” Document de travail France Stratégie 13. Retrieved 15 January 2024 at https://www.strategie.gouv.fr/sites/strategie.gouv.fr/files/atoms/files/fs-dt-13-evaluation-france_19_decembre_2019.pdf
To what extent does the government effectively incorporate sustainability assessments within the framework of RIAs?
10
9
9
High-quality sustainability assessments are incorporated within regulatory impact assessments.
8
7
6
7
6
High-quality sustainability assessments are, for the most part, incorporated within regulatory impact assessments.
5
4
3
4
3
High-quality sustainability assessments are rarely incorporated within regulatory impact assessments.
2
1
1
Sustainability assessments are not incorporated within regulatory impact assessments.
A national roadmap for the sustainable development transition was established for the 2015 – 2020 period. A more encompassing strategy was created for the subsequent period, called France 2030 (Ageri 2022), leading to the slogan of “France, green nation.” This also allowed space for more specific plans such as the national strategy for biodiversity. The switch from one to the other has shifted attention toward more economic development through technological innovation with a specific focus on nuclear energy as the centerpiece of the national strategy.
These plans encompass several concrete actions, from a call for proposals for 3,200 “innovating projects” to more specific pledges such as positioning 10% of the national territory under a strong protection strategy, halving light pollution and halving the use of phytosanitary products.
RIAs and overall evaluation assessments are limited in these plans. They are set as general objectives without binding commitments, and with no specific interim evaluations. Data to monitor changes is expected, but no specific means are established for the actual delivery of precise information. Agencies already in place are expected to provide expert opinions on all dimensions. The output of these evaluations remains of limited practical value (SNTEDD 2020).
Based on past performance, the full application of these plans is far from guaranteed. The reduction in the use of phytosanitary products has thus been announced several times, resulting in an observable trend to limit the increase in use. Pledges and indicators too often tend to be symbolic rather than driving genuine structural transformations.
Currently, the government’s general strategy has centered on simplifying the decision-making process rather than creating more complementary points of oversight (Conseil d’Etat 2022).
Citations:
Conseil d’Etat. 2022. “Colloque sur la simplification administrative, Paris, 14 October 2022.” https://www.conseil-etat.fr/publications-colloques/colloques-et-conferences/revoir-colloque-sur-la-simplification-normative
SNTEDD. 2020. “Stratégie de transition écologique vers un développement durable : bilan 2015-2020.” Document de travail du Gouvernement. Retrieved 15 January 2024 from https://www.agenda-2030.fr/IMG/pdf/bilan_sntedd_2020.pdf
These plans encompass several concrete actions, from a call for proposals for 3,200 “innovating projects” to more specific pledges such as positioning 10% of the national territory under a strong protection strategy, halving light pollution and halving the use of phytosanitary products.
RIAs and overall evaluation assessments are limited in these plans. They are set as general objectives without binding commitments, and with no specific interim evaluations. Data to monitor changes is expected, but no specific means are established for the actual delivery of precise information. Agencies already in place are expected to provide expert opinions on all dimensions. The output of these evaluations remains of limited practical value (SNTEDD 2020).
Based on past performance, the full application of these plans is far from guaranteed. The reduction in the use of phytosanitary products has thus been announced several times, resulting in an observable trend to limit the increase in use. Pledges and indicators too often tend to be symbolic rather than driving genuine structural transformations.
Currently, the government’s general strategy has centered on simplifying the decision-making process rather than creating more complementary points of oversight (Conseil d’Etat 2022).
Citations:
Conseil d’Etat. 2022. “Colloque sur la simplification administrative, Paris, 14 October 2022.” https://www.conseil-etat.fr/publications-colloques/colloques-et-conferences/revoir-colloque-sur-la-simplification-normative
SNTEDD. 2020. “Stratégie de transition écologique vers un développement durable : bilan 2015-2020.” Document de travail du Gouvernement. Retrieved 15 January 2024 from https://www.agenda-2030.fr/IMG/pdf/bilan_sntedd_2020.pdf
To what extent do government ministries utilize ex post evaluations to improve existing policies?
10
9
9
High-quality ex post evaluations serve as the basis for making adjustments to public policies.
8
7
6
7
6
High-quality ex post evaluations frequently serve as the basis for making adjustments to public policies.
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4
3
4
3
High-quality ex post evaluations rarely serve as the basis for making adjustments to public policies.
2
1
1
High-quality ex post evaluations are not utilized to make adjustments to public policies.
Ex post evaluation of public policies is the technique most adopted by administrations. Yet there is no practice of systematic evaluation, except for policies or laws in which the constitutive act stipulates the need for an evaluation. However, over the past 25 years, the Court of Accounts – which previously exerted a legal type of oversight – has transformed its mission and adapted its methods to evaluate public policies from a political, social, economic and financial point of view. The Court’s reports have become reference documents not only for the political authorities (government and parliament), but also for the broader public. However, stakeholders are rarely closely associated with this evaluation process, even if consultations are mandatory in cases of large-scale local construction, for instance. This is one of the rare cases for which the publication of the results is also mandatory (Duran 2021).
In the last 10 years, the government has also sponsored a variety of academic initiatives for the evaluation of public policies. The Institute for Public Policies at the Paris School of Economics and the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for the Evaluation of Public Policies are examples. They are nevertheless rarely invited to propose evaluations at the government’s initiative.
The divide between academics and the administration remains wide. Evaluation techniques have thus continued to diverge between these two worlds. Some entities, including the Court of Accounts and France Stratégie, publish evaluation reports. However, these represent only a portion of all policy assessments produced; other institutions, such as the National Assembly, also regularly publish results of policy evaluations.
Overall, the impact of ex post evaluations often proves limited. One often-cited reason for this is the timing of policy decisions. Evaluations are often seen as coming too late in the process, with politics demanding quicker responses.
Citations:
Duran, P. 2021. “Évaluation des politiques publiques : les leçons de l’expérience.” Revue française d’administration publique 177: 1-15.
In the last 10 years, the government has also sponsored a variety of academic initiatives for the evaluation of public policies. The Institute for Public Policies at the Paris School of Economics and the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for the Evaluation of Public Policies are examples. They are nevertheless rarely invited to propose evaluations at the government’s initiative.
The divide between academics and the administration remains wide. Evaluation techniques have thus continued to diverge between these two worlds. Some entities, including the Court of Accounts and France Stratégie, publish evaluation reports. However, these represent only a portion of all policy assessments produced; other institutions, such as the National Assembly, also regularly publish results of policy evaluations.
Overall, the impact of ex post evaluations often proves limited. One often-cited reason for this is the timing of policy decisions. Evaluations are often seen as coming too late in the process, with politics demanding quicker responses.
Citations:
Duran, P. 2021. “Évaluation des politiques publiques : les leçons de l’expérience.” Revue française d’administration publique 177: 1-15.