It ran from December 15 to 17, 2021 and, with around thirty remote participants, brought together a prestigious panel of high-level international experts, representatives of European regulatory authorities and FonCSI’s industrial sponsors. 

A great success, the seminar marked a key moment, with a wealth of outcomes that will be incorporated into future publications, and transferred to industry.

After leading a working group from 2017 to 2019, and publishing ine French the initial findings in a “Cahier de la sécurité industrielle” (Industrial Safety Notebook), the FonCSI has been conducting a strategic analysis on “The relationship between the regulator and the regulated” since late 2020.

The first step was to review the literature, and to identify the leading experts worldwide. A new, key stage of the strategic analysis has just been completed. The international academic seminar was held in digital format from December 15 to 17, and welcomed around thirty high-level participants.

International scientific experts

The following, 12 internationally-renowned experts were invited to speak at the academic seminar, and debate the issues:

  • Benoît Bernard, Bel V (Belgium)
  • Julia Black, London School of Economics (United Kingdom)
  • Jeffrey Braithwaite, Macquarie University (Australia)
  • Cary Coglianese, University of Pennsylvania Law School (USA)
  • Julien Étienne, independent consultant and researcher (United Kingdom)
  • Ulla Forseth, NTNU (Norway)
  • Jean-Pierre Galland, LATTS (France)
  • Christopher Hood, Oxford University (United Kingdom)
  • Preben Lindøe, University of Stavanger (Norway)
  • Martin Lodge, London School of Economics (United Kingdom)
  • Michelle Pautz, University of Dayton (USA)
  • Kristine Størkersen, SINTEF (Norway)

Each contributor pre-prepared a video presentation, and their position paper was made available to all of the other participants before the seminar. The two-and-a-half-day seminar was therefore devoted to discussion and debates on the topics previously shared.

High-level representatives from industry and regulatory authorities

The following industrial leaders were also invited to the seminar to challenge the experts, provide feedback, and enrich the debates:

  • Laurent Cebulski, Director General, EPSF (Etablissement public de sécurité ferroviaire)
  • Pierre-Franck Chevet, President, IFP Energies nouvelles, and former President of the ASN (French Nuclear Safety Authority)
  • Patrick Ky, President, EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency)
  • André-Claude Lacoste, President of ICSI-FonCSI and former President of the ASN (French Nuclear Safety Authority)
  • Cécile Laugier, Director of Environment and Prospects - Nuclear Generation Division, EDF
  • Pierre Messulam, Director of Safety and Security Risk Audits, SNCF
  • Xavier Perret, Global Care Director, Engie

A dense and wide-ranging agenda

The two-and-a-half-day seminar was structured around sessions that addressed the regulator-regulatee relationship from different angles:

  • Risk regulation regimes: historical view and new trends
  • Public trust and the regulator's licence to operate
  • Delegation of safety oversight to regulatees and third parties. Three contrasted sectors: aviation, healthcare and finance
  • The regulator-regulatee relationship at the street level
  • Bureaucratization, regulatory inflation, digitalization and oversight
  • Role of third parties in the regulator-regulatee relationship and safety oversight

All participants, members of the Strategic Analysis Scientific Group (GSAS) and representatives of the Foundation’s sponsors (Airbus, DGAC-DSAC, EDF, EPSF, IRSN, SNCF, TotalEnergies, UIC, Vinci) attended these debates and were able to challenge both the experts and industry specialists, in order to provide food for thought.

What were the outcomes, and what happens next?

The results of the seminar will be digested by the GSAS over the next few months, with a view to transferring the outcomes to FonCSI’s industrial sponsors, notably via a dedicated seminar.

Moreover, as a not-for-profit organization, the FonCSI will disseminate the results of this work to as many people as possible, in particular through a scientific book, published in English, in its ‘SpringerBriefs in Safety Management’ open access collection, published by Springer.