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Signal: France's CESE convenes a citizens' convention on public finances on its own initiative

In October 2026 France's Economic, Social and Environmental Council began recruiting 150 randomly selected citizens for a convention on public finances, due to start on 27 November 2026. It is the first convention the CESE has launched on its own initiative rather than at the executive's request.

Polity Atlas editorsPublished 23 Oct 2026 · 1 min read

What happened. The CESE announced on 9 September 2026 that it would organise a citizens' convention on public finances, citing the urgency of France's deficit and debt. A governance committee chaired by Florence Sautejeau was installed on 30 September and fixed the method and the question. Recruitment began on 23 October: Harris Interactive is contacting thousands of randomly generated telephone numbers to assemble 150 members reflecting gender, age, type of urban area, region, education and occupation, with attention to overseas territories and a separate mechanism to involve people in precarious situations. The question is: 'What priorities should be set and what choices made today to regain control of our public finances, reduce the deficit and prepare for the future?' Sessions begin on 27 November 2026.

Why it is a signal. Earlier French conventions on climate (2019-2020), the end of life (2022-2023) and children's time (2025) were commissioned by the President or the government, which also framed the questions. Here the CESE, using the participation role it gained in a 2021 reform, has chosen both topic and question itself. CESE president Claire Thoury framed it as trust in citizens' capacity to formulate the general interest on a hard question. Fiscal choices are also the domain where representative institutions most jealously guard their prerogatives, so the convention tests whether sortition bodies can address trade-offs rather than value questions alone.

Risks. Without a commitment from government or Parliament to respond, an own-initiative convention may be easier to ignore. Budget questions are technical and contested, so the selection of experts and information will be scrutinised for bias. A convention that endorses painful measures could also be used to legitimise decisions already taken.

What to watch. Whether the government and parliamentary finance committees commit to a formal response; the balance of expert witnesses; whether the convention produces costed scenarios rather than lists of principles; and whether other countries' advisory councils adopt an own-initiative model.

Original source: Conseil économique, social et environnemental (CESE)