Developments of Legislative Impact Analysis in France: with reference to “Youth Impact Clause”

Abstract

The present paper attempts to deal with the effects of a given legislation in practical as well as academic perspectives, commonly called as legislative impact analysis, or legislative assessment as in case of pilot works in Korea. Yet the law and practice in this particular area differs from nation to nation, as the case of France exemplifies in this article. It is to be noted that various works on the works relating to the legislative impacts were largely incorporated in an act of the National Assembly in March 2021. That is the Framework Act on Administration which targets the current laws and regulations if necessary to improve the legal system in the administrative field, obviously including the subject matter. On the other hand, France has been conducting legislative evaluation in a reserved manner by stipulating the subject in a broad way, that is in the revised constitution in 2008. Thus the writer proposes in the present paper to focus on the following two points : First, considering French legislation, legislative procedures, and the relationship between the government and the National Assembly, attempts were made to pinpoint the characteristics and meaning of the impact analysis system and the possible significance. The French impact analysis is limited to the government-submitted legislation. Therefore it is characterized by the fact that it is prepared directly by the relevant department of the Government that submitted the bill. Criticism has always been targeted for lack of fairness. However, the impact analysis system should be understood not only in the form of government but also in the context of legal system and legislative procedures. In other words, horizontal comparison of the two systems, France and Korea for that matter, is difficult because it has a structural difference from the post-legislative impact analysis, as specified in the Framework Act on Administration in case of Korea. Second, among the points raised in the discussions on the French impact analysis, frequently pointed areas concern the so-called “Youth Impact Clause” introduced in 2016. In addition to the existing impact analysis method, special attentions were given to young people, and to the basis of the legislative analysis. At the beginning of the implementation of the Youth Impact Assessment System, the Ministry of Youth Affairs did not put forward active an opinion as expected. Above all, the issue was preempted rather by the general observation, such as “today’s youth-future generation” than the specific and technical points in legislation.