To prescribe rules is a necessity to organize the life of society. But too many want to regulate, the State is therefore led to restrict the liberties of the citizens, and it becomes counter-productive.
The normative power is part of the prerogatives of the State, which often leads to situations that are difficult to understand. The state intervention weighs on citizens and businesses, as we have already been able to see it, but this normative power complicates further the situation. The State is aware of these difficulties, arising from the accumulation of standards, and the recent laws Macron, Covenant or NRE, are all examples of the ambition to reduce the constraints of the normative power.
To lay down standards, the best way to control everything
For example, to prepare the déconfinement, the State has published a ” Guide to Good practices “, aimed at business leaders. These new standards do not have force of a law or regulation. On the other hand, in the case of non-application, the company may be prosecuted for “endangering ” of its employees, its customers…. But to apply these new rules is sometimes in contradiction with the norms of the Labour Code.
And, because the State is also obliged to adapt its legislation to that of Europe, the overlap of standards and regulations that quickly becomes incomprehensible. On the one hand, decisions are taken to encourage the work of youth and students during the summer holiday, while on the other, a regulation prohibits these young people from 16 to 18 years of age to be able to climb on a stepladder. And here are the arborists deprived of part of their workforce.
Too many standards, an obstacle to the freedom of each one ?
And as soon as a new issue arises, the State wants to immediately make a response as imperfect as it may be. The crisis of the sars coronavirus has led to an explosion of applications of food aid in France. He had to face, and the State has understood the absurdity of an old standard prohibiting (for health reasons) the gift of meat. Then, a new regulation was drafted in an emergency to define which organizations, which businesses had the right to give the meat and under what conditions.
One could multiply the examples of this normative pressure on the daily lives of people. In April 2019, the Institute IPSOS Sopra Steria carried out an extensive study on the subject. Not surprisingly, the majority of respondents (61 %) claimed to understand the need for laws and norms to organize social life. In contrast, almost 6 out of 10 citizens (59 %) considered that standards and other regulations represented a ” limit excessive freedoms of citizens and of consumers “.
Author(s): FranceSoir
