FRANCE: Law weakens participatory democracy by making consultative bodies optional

Two years after it was first introduced, on 14 April, the French parliament adopted the bill aimed at “simplifying economic life”. The bill includes the initiative to abolish the Regional Economic, Social and Environmental Councils (CESERs). – These bodies, which bring together civil society actors, trade unions, employers, and other stakeholders to advise regional decision-making, have increasingly come under political pressure. Their suppression has been repeatedly proposed in recent years, reflecting a continued trend of narrowing civic space through institutional reforms.

The bill formalises the abolition of CESERs at the national level, while allowing regional authorities the option to re-establish them if they choose. Civil society and experts warn that this transforms CESERs into optional additional consultative bodies and reduces the access of organised civil society to regional policymaking and eroding participatory democracy in France. The bill will next be processed in the Constitutional Council and an appeal has been launched to challenge the law.