BE · JoKER
Council of State 69.100/1 (18 May 2021) — missing JoKER on closed-supervision youth-justice bill
Only documented dossier-blocking bite. Report written two days later. Completing JoKER unblocks; it does not rewrite.
Policy tools and frameworks
How governments are supposed to look before they leap
This section inventories the machinery — impact assessments, commissioners, long-term budgets — rather than the news. The first live family is Intergenerational Impact Assessments. Completing a form is not the same as changing a decision.
Intergenerational Impact Assessments
A statutory or administrative tool that forces assessment of effects on young people, future cohorts, or the unborn before a law, budget, plan, or project is adopted. Strong inventory, weak bite: almost no instrument can stall a dossier.
Future-generations institutions
Wales Future Generations Commissioner, Hungary Deputy Commissioner, Malta FG commissioner (advisory). Not an IIA page — institutions without a pre-decision test. Build next if this family earns a scan.
Long-term fiscal and wellbeing budgets
Australian Intergenerational Report, Ireland Future Forty, NZ wellbeing-budget duties (partly repealed 2026). Cousins of IIA, not the same tool.
Subsection · IIAs
Intergenerational Impact Assessments
An Intergenerational Impact Assessment is a procedure, not a slogan: someone has to assess effects on young people, future cohorts, or the unborn before a law, budget, plan, or project is adopted, with some legal or administrative force.
Completing an IA is common. Changing a decision is rare. Flanders JoKER is the only instrument that can stall a dossier — and only when the report is missing.
Not an IIA
- A constitutional future-generations clause by itself (Germany Art. 20a, Italy Art. 9)
- A commissioner or ombuds without a pre-decision annex
- A 40-year fiscal outlook or intergenerational report
- A completed form that left the decision unchanged
2
National IIAs enacted
Italy VIG (statutory, DPCMs unpublished) · Netherlands generatietoets (administrative, MN 2026 skip)
1
Can stall a dossier
Flanders JoKER, Council of State 69.100/1 (2021). Completing JoKER does not rewrite policy.
1
Documented amendment
Dutch Kinderrechtentoets on Wet reikwijdte Jeugdwet consultation — two safeguards, not yet a statute.
0
National IIA outside Europe
Africa/MENA, APAC, and the Americas: zero enacted national IIA in the 94-jurisdiction scan.
Instrument family
| CC | Instrument | Kind | Bite | Who can block | Who is assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IT | AIR-VIG (Law 167/2025) | enacted | unknown | unknown | young people and future generations |
| NL | Beleidskompas generatietoets | enacted | skip | must consider | current and future generations (NPCE used living age bands, not the unborn as a legal person) |
| NL | Kinderrechtentoets (Kinderombudsman CRIA) | cousin | amendment | none | children as CRC rights-holders |
| DE | KomJC Jugend-Check | cousin | skip | none | ages 12–27 |
| BE | Flanders JoKER | cousin | stall | can stall dossier | persons through age 30 (from 13 Mar 2026) |
| AT | WFA Jugend-Check (WFA-KJV) | cousin | skip | must consider | children and young adults |
| FR | Clause d'impact jeunesse (circular 2 May 2016) | cousin | unknown | must consider | ages 16–25 (25–30 flagged where age barriers or housing/employment effects are large) |
| GB | Wales Strategic Integrated Impact Assessment | cousin | skip | must consider | current and future generations under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, plus equality groups |
| GB | Scotland CRWIA (UNCRC Act 2024 s.17) | cousin | none | none | children and young people under 18 (incorporated UNCRC), not unborn cohorts |
| NO | DFØ child-impact step in Utredningsinstruksen | cousin | unknown | must consider | children (barn) |
| CA | Justice Canada CRIA tool | cousin | unknown | none | children (CRC rights) |
| HU | Act CXI of 2011 Commissioner opinion | cousin | skip | must consider | future generations (Fundamental Law Article P) |
| GB | Wellbeing and Sustainable Development Bill Future Generations Duty | proposed | unknown | unknown | future generations and long-term community wellbeing |
| ES | Oficina de Prospectiva Intergenerational Impact Annex | enacted | skip | must consider | future cohorts (2040+ horizon) and youth |
| PT | Assembleia da República Intergenerational Justice Index | cousin | skip | none | current and future generations (fiscal equity, pension liabilities) |
| EU | EU AI Act Fundamental Rights Impact Assessment (Youth & Children Module) | cousin | amendment | must consider | children, youth, and affected groups |
Bite — did the assessment change the decision?
NL · Kinderrechtentoets
Wet reikwijdte Jeugdwet consultation MvT §7.4 (Feb 2026)
Two safeguards after youth conversations. Not yet a statute.
NL · Generatietoets
Miljoenennota 2026 after Senate motion 36.800 D
Motion adopted; MN 2026 had no generatietoets annex.
DE · Jugend-Check
Minijobs / Mindestlohn cabinet draft (23 Feb 2022)
Two youth-protective enforcement clauses identified on 7 Feb were deleted from the cabinet text.
AT · WFA Jugend-Check
Budgetbegleitgesetz 2025
Completed child/youth WFA; family-benefit freeze and school-travel copay enacted anyway.
GB · Wales SIIA
Final Budget 2026–27
Workshops informed some allocations; documented disproportionate harms were not removed.
GB · Scotland CRWIA
Budget (Scotland) (No. 5) Bill 2026–27
CRWIA states it resulted in no changes to the Bill.
BE · JoKER
Bill 864 community-institution schools (27 May 2026)
Completed JoKER after age-30 expansion; Council of State did not stall.
Country dossiers
enacted Italy Constitutional Art. 9 + statutory VIG. Implementing DPCMs unpublished; 2026 government AIR still omits VIG.
Italy's intergenerational equity model is a three-layer stack: (1) constitutional entrenchment via Constitutional Law 1/2022 (Articles 9 and 41), naming future generations and environmental limits on economic activity; (2) administrative operationalisation through Generational Impact Assessment (VIG) in Law 167/2025, integrated into regulatory impact analysis for government bills; and (3) judicial enforcement through Constitutional Court doctrine on equità intergenerazionale, spanning public finance (from 2019) and environment (especially post-2022). Italy does not have a Wales-style Future Generations Commissioner, but it is among the few states that constitutionally name future generations alongside environment and biodiversity. As of mid-2026, VIG is legally binding but the implementing DPCM and Observatory are still being stood up, while municipalities (Parma, Bologna) already run local VIG ahead of central government practice.
- Layer 1 · Constitutional foundation
Constitutional Law No. 1 of 11 February 2022 — Binds legislature, executive, and courts; elevates future generations from policy language to fundamental principles. - Layer 2 · Statutory operationalisation
Law No. 167 of 10 November 2025 (Art. 4–5) — VIG in AIR for government normative acts; National Observatory at Presidency of the Council of Ministers. - Layer 3 · Judicial doctrine
Constitutional Court jurisprudence (2019–2026) — Equità intergenerazionale as legitimacy parameter in fiscal discipline and environmental derogations.
enacted Netherlands Administrative generatietoets is live as method. Budget skip on MN 2026. One consultation-stage Kinderrechtentoets amendment.
The Netherlands is one of two countries GYC classifies as having an enacted national Intergenerational Impact Assessment — but the instrument is administrative, not a veto. The Beleidskompas generatietoets asks ministries to test irreversible or redistributive effects on current and future generations before a decision; nobody can stall a dossier for a missing toets. A cousin tool, the Kinderrechtentoets, is a living-child CRIA now instructed for jeugdzorg bills. Bite is thin: Miljoenennota 2026 skipped the Senate's generatietoets motion; the only documented amendment is two consultation-stage safeguards on Wet reikwijdte Jeugdwet. Next public test is Prinsjesdag 15 September 2026.
- Layer 1 · Administrative IIA (enacted method)
Beleidskompas step 4 + Leidraad Toekomstgericht Beleid generatietoets — Ministries should run a generatietoets when effects may redistribute across generations, are irreversible, or lock later cohorts in. Hulpmiddel, not a statutory veto. - Layer 2 · Child-rights cousin (youth-care bills)
Kinderrechtentoets — Senate motion 36.546, I (7 Oct 2025) — Four-step CRC assessment on future jeugdzorg bills, recorded in the memorie van toelichting. Kinderombudsman advises; cannot void a bill. - Layer 3 · Climate duty (not IIA review)
Urgenda (Hoge Raad 2019) via ECHR Arts. 2 and 8 — Intergenerational climate duty of care. Does not require a pre-decision generatietoets and does not review a missing one.
cousin Germany Art. 20a names future generations. Jugend-Check is the densest published youth-IA series — and the Bundestag is not bound.
Germany has a constitutional future-generations clause (Basic Law Article 20a) and the densest published youth-impact series in the GYC corpus: KomJC screened 490 federal bills in the 20th Bundestag and published 91 Jugend-Checks. The check is not an Intergenerational Impact Assessment of unborn cohorts. It assesses living 12–27-year-olds; the Bundestag is not bound to amend; who can block: nobody. Documented bite is skip (minijobs 2022 dropped two youth-protective clauses after the check) or check-then-enact (Thuringia court-organisation statute kept the draft robe clause). Neubauer 2021 is intergenerational climate doctrine, not Jugend-Check review.
- Layer 1 · Constitutional foundation
Basic Law Article 20a (1994) — Names future generations as the reason the state must protect the natural foundations of life. No commissioner and no statutory IIA annex. - Layer 2 · Youth-check (administrative, published)
KomJC Jugend-Check (since 2017) — Independent scientific pre-screen of every federal government draft for effects on ages 12–27. Published. Bundestag not bound. - Layer 3 · Climate freedom over time
BVerfG Neubauer (24 March 2021) — Offloading a radical post-2030 mitigation burden onto later generations threatens future freedom. Climate law, not Jugend-Check procedure.
cousin Belgium Flanders JoKER only. Unique stall gate for a missing report. No federal IIA.
Belgium has no federal Intergenerational Impact Assessment. The live instrument is Flemish: Jeugddecreet Article 7 JoKER (kind- en jongereneffectrapport) on Flemish Government draft decrees that directly affect children and young people, now through age 30. It is the only IIA-family tool in the GYC corpus with documented dossier-blocking bite — the Council of State required a missing JoKER in opinion 69.100/1 (18 May 2021). Completing JoKER unblocks the file; it does not force a rewrite. After the 13 March 2026 age-30 expansion, bill 864 filed a completed JoKER and the Council did not stall it.
- Layer 1 · Flemish statutory JoKER
Jeugddecreet Article 7 — kind- en jongereneffectrapport — Mandatory annex on Flemish Government ontwerpdecreten that directly affect children and young people: effects with the measure, without it, and alternatives to avoid, limit or remedy serious harm. - Layer 2 · Council of State stall gate
Raad van State / Conseil d'État legislation section — Can require a missing JoKER before the dossier proceeds. Completing the report unblocks; no merits veto on a completed JoKER. - Layer 3 · Federal and Walloon gap
None enacted in the GYC corpus as of 17 August 2026 — No federal IIA, no Walloon equivalent located, no Future Generations Commissioner.
cousin Austria Mandatory WFA child/youth dimension since 2013. Budgetbegleitgesetz 2025 completed the check then enacted the freeze.
WFA-Kinder-und-Jugend-Verordnung (BGBl. II Nr. 495/2012) requires simplified screening then a deeper assessment in material cases, travelling with the government bill. The assessor is the bill author. Budgetbegleitgesetz 2025 (BGBl. I Nr. 25/2025) quantified a two-year Familienbeihilfe freeze for two million children and a school-travel copay rise, and enacted both.
cousin France 2016 youth-impact clause requires intergenerational-justice analysis in government bills. No proven rewrite located.
Circular 5857-SG (2 May 2016) adds a clause d'impact jeunesse to études d'impact, covering equality among young people, intergenerational justice and non-discrimination, with compensating measures expected if a text would penalise current or future young cohorts. Loi 2025-268 filled the youth-impact sections; bite versus adopted articles is unknown.
Watch list — do not invent an unpublished toets
- 2026-09-15 · NL
Prinsjesdag / Miljoenennota 2027 generatietoets
Official hub still published only MN 2026 as of 17 Aug 2026. Do not invent a toets. - Undated · IT
Italy VIG criteria DPCM and Observatory DPCM
Gazzetta unpublished. A.C. 2825 AIR omitted VIG after Law 167 in force. - Undated · NL
Versterking jeugdbescherming Tweede Kamer MvT
At Raad van State 30 Jun 2026. Sterk Kinderrechtentoets claim unverified against public consultation MvT. - Undated · EU
EU Intergenerational Fairness Index methodology PDF
youth.europa.eu still 'Coming soon'. - Undated · KR
Korea first completed 청년영향평가
OPC 5–6 Aug 2026 announcement remained future-tense. - Undated · DE
ThürGDG 8/3713 and prisoner-pay 8/3287 final texts
Land Jugend-Checks published; Landtag texts still pending.
Updated 2026-08-17 · IIA subsection compiled from foresight missions iia-soc-country / iia-mechanism-bite / iia-bite-closeout / iia-watch-korea-th (17 Aug 2026) and country deep-dive databases. Completing an assessment is not bite; changing the decision is.