France

Basic information

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Mechanisms of Vertical Integration

National — sub-national linkages

In preparation of the new NSDS for 2009-2013, a country-wide broad stakeholder consultation process has been organised, called ‘grenelle de l’environnement’, which started in summer 2007 and ended in October 2007. During the following months, more than 800 people have met regularly in 34 working groups, including representatives from the sub-national levels. The results of the working groups, 268 commitments, have been integrated in the preparation of NSDS 2009-2013 and the representatives from the sub-national levels are now involved in the follow-up committee "comité national du développement durable et du Grenelle de l'environnement (CNDDGE)".

For the implementation of the current NSDS, three activities are of main importance:

Firstly, the national level developed ‘state strategic action plans’ with SD objectives for each of the 26 regions. These action plans operationalise objectives outlined in the NSDS and must be understood as regional implementation plans. These action plans have to be taken into account in the regional SD strategies developed by the prefects.

Secondly, the ‘state-territory intervention programme’ (CPER) is a contract  between the national level and the local authorities. The programme can refer to  various policy issues, including sustainable development.

Both of the above activities are part of the legal procedure in policy-making in France. Sub-national levels are involved in the definition of the current state and the financing.

Thirdly, the NSDS 2003 included the objective to establish 500 LA 21 initiatives within 5 years. As part of the revised NSDS process in 2006, a ‘framework reference’ for LA 21 initiatives was developed by the national level in cooperation with NGOs and representatives of the sub-national levels. The reference document includes criteria for local authorities to fulfil to be recognised as ‘quality initiative’. The criteria are closely related to the EU SDS and the NSDS and, thus, should guarantee vertical coherence of all actions. The criteria also outline important governance processes. Overall, the framework document defines the SD concept, is applicable on all sub-national levels and outlines how stakeholder participation can be organised. Therefore, it represents a national guidance document for sub-national levels. At the end of 2008, 101 LA 21 initiatives had been recognised by the national level on the principles outlined in the "framework reference" document. The 2009-2013 NSDS objective is to reach 1000 LA 21 initiatives, including 250 ones recognised by the national level.

Generally, the 'framework reference' established a clear link between the NSDS and the local LA 21 activities.

EU linkages

The renewed EU Strategy for Sustainable Development (EU SDS) that was adopted in June 2006 foresees that Member States bi-annually report about how they address the priorities of the EU SDS. France has published its first national report on implementing the EU SDS in April 2007.

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Mechanisms of Horizontal Integration

Since March 2005, SD is included in the French Constitution with the adoption of the Environmental Charter. This guarantees stronger efforts of including SD in the work of all public institutions. Each minister nominated one or more senior civil servants who are responsible for preparing the contribution of their administration to further developing the NSDS, co-ordinating the preparation of corresponding action plans and monitoring their implementation.

In order to strengthen the integration of sustainable development into governmental actions, the new Ministry for Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and Sea (MEEDDM) has been established in May 2007, with the highest rank inside the Government hierarchy.

The coherence of actions of all ministries, as outlined in the NSDS for 2003-08, is controlled by the Inter-Ministerial Committee for Sustainable Development (ICSD). The ICSD is also responsible for the definition, coordination and follow-up of national SD objectives.

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Evaluation and Review

Every year, a report on progress in the implementation of the NSDS is addressed to the parliament. The report is based on the set of SD indicators. The latest report was issued in 2008, including a review how SD issues were included in each national ministry.

Furthermore, France was the first EU Member State that organized a peer review process to evaluate the implementation of the NSDS with the inclusion of four peer countries (Belgium, Ghana, Mauritius and the UK). The peer review report was issued in 2005.

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Indicators and Monitoring

In the revised French NSDS from 2006, a set of twelve headline indicators (‘Douze indicateurs "phares" de développement durable’) is introduced. Likewise to the priorities outlined in the NSDS, also the indicators are closely linked to those on the EU level. Additional indicators are specified in the 2nd part of the strategy, ‘Programmes d’actions’ (programmes of action).

The full list(s) of indicators as identified by a study commissioned by Eurostat can be downloaded here:

• NSDS indicators (2006)

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Participation

The National Council for Sustainable Development was set up in January 2003 to enable a wide participation of actors in the elaboration of the NSDS. The Council’s aim is to bring together actors from civil society (e.g. NGOs, employers’ associations, enterprises, labour unions, the media and scientist) and territorial authorities to provide advice and submit proposals in the preparation, implementation and follow-up of SD policies.

A new Council is expected to succeed the current one in 2009 for the ‘grenelle de l’environnement’ follow-up.

The ‘grenelle de l’environnement’, which started during the summer of 2007, was an unprecedented multi-stakeholder consultation process in preparation of the new NSDS. It brought together all the stakeholders dealing with SD issues on a daily basis (central government, local authorities, NGOs, businesses, unions, etc.) throughout a five-fold democratic process: (1) Action propositions: Six working parties prepared the negotiations; (2) Public debate: meetings in French provinces, internet, consultation with scientific and institutional bodies, consultation with the Parliament; (3) Decisions and guidelines: Four roundtable discussions led to the adoption of 268 commitments in all sectors; (4) Operational phase: 34 operational working parties prepared implementation propositions; and (5) Legislative phase: Two bills have been voted by the Parliament. The annual report to Parliament on implementing France's Environment Round Table commitments has been published in October 2009.

For a detailed documentation of all advisory and participatory councils (for SD and/or the environment) in this country, please go to the EEAC website at http://www.eeac-net.org/bodies/france/fr_frame.htm and click on one of the listed institutions.

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Sub-national activities

Regional SD strategies:

At the end of 2008, there were 14 regional Agenda 21 initiatives in France.

LA21 initiatives:

At that time, there were around 500 LA 21 initiatives in the country: more than 50% of the regions, 36% of the ‘départements’, 70% of the ‘urban communities’ are involved. 68% of the French population is living in a territory that’s involved in such a project.

The national level can provide support and subsidies when developing an LA21 initiaives and and action plan; the regional level often provides support in human resources for implementation, or technical and financial support for the project elaboration.

Participation:

Local authorities, NGOs, businesses and trade unions are commonly involved in the application of regional and sub-regional SD strategies.

Evaluation and indicators:

An important work on evaluation is currently in progress, led by the French Ministry of Sustainable Development. It will provide evaluation guidelines (methodology and indicators) suitable for every local or regional SD strategy.

Contact details:

Contact list available on http://observatoire-territoires-durables.org/ (in French).

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This Country Profile has been last updated on: Wednesday, 10 February 2010

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