Reforms
Following the major reforms under way, country by country: what the text provides, where it stands, and what its supporters and opponents say. Every fact is sourced; Citoyen takes no position.
35 reforms
- GermanyEconomy & public financesUpdated: November 5, 2026In force2025 debt brake reform and the €500bn infrastructure and climate neutrality fundThe constitutional amendment of 22 March 2025 exempts from the debt brake the defence and security spending above 1% of GDP, gives the Länder as a whole a structural borrowing margin of 0.35% of GDP and allows a special fund of up to €500bn, financed by borrowing outside the debt brake, for additional investment in infrastructure and climate neutrality by 2045. The SVIKG act set up the fund from 1 January 2025: €100bn for the Länder, €100bn for the Climate and Transformation Fund, investments approved until the end of 2036.Read the factsheet →
- European UnionEconomy & public financesUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceEU economic governance reform of 2024: the new fiscal rulesThree acts of 29 April 2024, in force since 30 April 2024, rewrote the Stability and Growth Pact. Each Member State now commits to a four- or five-year medium-term fiscal-structural plan built around a single indicator, net expenditure, whose path is set by the Council. The 3% of GDP deficit and 60% debt reference values stay; adjustment can be spread over up to seven years in exchange for reforms and investment, and every Member State must have an independent fiscal institution.Read the factsheet →
- CanadaEconomy & public financesUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceOne Canadian Economy Act (Bill C-5): internal free trade and fast-tracked national interest projectsPassed in three weeks and assented to on 26 June 2025, the act has two parts. Part 1, in force since 1 January 2026, deems goods, services and workers that meet provincial or territorial requirements to meet comparable federal ones. Part 2, the Building Canada Act, lets the federal cabinet list « national interest projects » for five years: their federal approvals are deemed favourable and grouped into a single document. Two projects were listed in October 2026, including a West Coast oil pipeline.Read the factsheet →
- AustraliaEconomy & public financesUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceRedesign of the « Stage 3 » income tax cuts (2024) and the 2026-2027 top-upsThe « Stage 3 » income tax cuts legislated in 2018 and 2019 under the Coalition were to apply, from 1 July 2024, a single 30% rate from A$45,000 to A$200,000. On 25 January 2024 the Albanese government announced a redesign, passed on 27 February 2024: from 1 July 2024 the 19% rate falls to 16%, the 32.5% rate to 30%, and the 37% and 45% thresholds rise to A$135,000 and A$190,000. A 2025 act lowers the first rate again, to 15% since 1 July 2026 and 14% from 1 July 2027.Read the factsheet →
- United StatesEconomy & public financesUpdated: November 3, 2026In force« One Big Beautiful Bill Act » (Public Law 119-21): tax cuts, Medicaid and SNAP changes, higher debt limitThe 2025 budget reconciliation law, signed on 4 July 2025, makes the 2017 tax cuts permanent, adds temporary deductions for tips, overtime and seniors, raises the cap on the state and local tax deduction, adds work requirements to Medicaid and SNAP, phases out several clean-energy tax credits, funds immigration enforcement and defense, and raises the federal debt limit by $5 trillion. The CBO estimates it adds $3.4 trillion to deficits over 2025–2034 relative to its January 2025 baseline. Known as the « One Big Beautiful Bill Act », it has no official short title: the Senate struck it before passage.Read the factsheet →
- United StatesEconomy & public financesUpdated: November 3, 2026Struck down2025 emergency tariffs (IEEPA): “Liberation Day” reciprocal tariffs and fentanyl duties, struck down by the Supreme CourtIn 2025 the President used the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose additional duties: 25% on Canadian and Mexican goods and 10% on Chinese goods over fentanyl flows (February), then a 10% duty on almost all imports plus higher country-specific rates under Executive Order 14257 of 2 April 2025. On 20 February 2026 the Supreme Court held that IEEPA does not authorize the President to impose tariffs. The duties were terminated, refunds to importers began in April 2026, and the administration switched to other legal bases: a temporary 10% surcharge under Section 122, then Section 301 duties from 24 July 2026.Read the factsheet →
- IndiaLabour marketUpdated: November 6, 2026In forceThe four labour codes (2019-2020)Parliament adopted the Code on Wages in August 2019, then the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code in September 2020. Together they replace 29 central labour laws: a minimum wage for all employments above a national floor wage, prior government permission for lay-offs, retrenchment and closure only from 300 workers, a first legal framework for gig and platform workers, « inspectors-cum-facilitators » instead of inspectors. The four codes came into force on 21 November 2025; the central rules were notified on 8 May 2026 and a few States and Union Territories were still finalising theirs in mid-2026.Read the factsheet →
- United KingdomLabour marketUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceEmployment Rights Act 2025The Act of 18 December 2025 (chapter 36), introduced in October 2024 as the Employment Rights Bill, overhauls UK employment law: day-one paternity and parental leave, statutory sick pay from the first day of sickness, a qualifying period for unfair dismissal cut from two years to six months, restrictions on « fire and rehire », a right to guaranteed hours for zero-hours workers, the repeal of most of the Trade Union Act 2016 and a new Fair Work Agency. It comes into force in stages from December 2025 to 2027.Read the factsheet →
- GermanyLabour marketUpdated: November 5, 2026In force2026 reform of basic income support for jobseekers: from Bürgergeld to GrundsicherungsgeldThe act of 16 April 2026, wanted by the CDU/CSU-SPD coalition, reshapes the basic income support for jobseekers (SGB II) introduced as « Bürgergeld » on 1 January 2023. Since 1 July 2026 the benefit is called « Grundsicherungsgeld »: job placement takes priority, a breach of duties cuts the standard rate by 30% for three months, three missed appointments in a row can end the entitlement, the one-year asset grace period is abolished and housing costs are capped from the first day. The standard rate itself is unchanged (€563 a month for a single adult in 2026).Read the factsheet →
- South KoreaLabour marketUpdated: November 5, 2026In force« Yellow Envelope Act »: amendment of articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union ActLaw No. 21045 of 9 September 2025 amends articles 2 and 3 of the Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act. Whoever substantially and specifically controls a worker’s working conditions — typically a principal contractor towards subcontracted workers — becomes an employer within that scope; industrial disputes may cover business decisions that affect working conditions; courts must split damages for strikes worker by worker. Passed twice and vetoed twice (2023, 2024), the text was adopted on 24 August 2025 and has been in force since 10 March 2026.Read the factsheet →
- JapanLabour marketUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceWork Style Reform: the legal cap on overtime (2018 act)The Work Style Reform act of 6 July 2018 wrote into the Labour Standards Act, with penalties, a cap on overtime: 45 hours a month and 360 a year as a rule, and never more than 720 hours a year, less than 100 hours in a month and 80 hours on average over two to six months, holiday work included for the last two. It applied from April 2019 in large firms and April 2020 in small ones; road drivers, construction and doctors only came under it in April 2024, with special ceilings — up to 960 hours a year for drivers and 1,860 for some doctors. Since October 2025 the government has been reviewing working-time rules; no change to the cap has been adopted.Read the factsheet →
- FranceLabour marketUpdated: November 3, 2026In force2023 Full Employment Act: France Travail and automatic registration of RSA recipientsThe law of 18 December 2023 replaced Pôle emploi with France Travail on 1 January 2024 and created a « network for employment ». Since January 2025, recipients of the RSA minimum income, young people supported by local youth agencies and disabled people supported by Cap emploi are automatically registered with France Travail and sign a single « commitment contract », with in principle at least 15 hours of activity a week. A graduated « suspension-remobilisation » sanction applies since 1 June 2025. The Constitutional Council struck down the data-sharing provisions and issued interpretation reservations.Read the factsheet →
- GermanyDefenseUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceMilitary Service Modernisation Act (« new military service »)Fifteen years after compulsory call-up was suspended in 2011, the act of 22 December 2025, in force since 1 January 2026, brings back military registration: men born from 2008 must fill in a questionnaire and are again subject to a medical examination (« Musterung »), while service itself stays voluntary. It writes into law a growth path to 460,000 soldiers by 2035 (up to 260,000 active, at least 200,000 reservists); if it is not met, only a new act of the Bundestag can order a needs-based conscription.Read the factsheet →
- JapanDefenseUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceJapan’s defence buildup: the 2022 security documents and their financing actOn 16 December 2022 the Cabinet adopted three security documents: Japan will acquire counterstrike capabilities, spend about ¥43 trillion on its defence buildup over fiscal 2023-2027 and bring defence and related spending to 2% of GDP in fiscal 2027. A 2023 act, later amended, finances part of it through non-tax revenue, a dedicated fund and new defence surtaxes. The government says the 2% level was reached in fiscal 2025, two years early, and is revising the three documents in 2026.Read the factsheet →
- FranceDefenseUpdated: November 3, 2026In forceMilitary programming act 2024-2030 and its 2026 updateThe act of 1 August 2023 sets the armed forces’ resources for 2024-2030: €413.3bn of programmed needs, including €400bn of payment appropriations for the « Défense » budget mission, rising from €47.2bn in 2024 to €67.4bn in 2030. The act of 16 August 2026 updated it, adding €36bn over 2026-2030 for an updated total of €435.7bn.Read the factsheet →
- United StatesDefenseUpdated: November 3, 2026In forceNational Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (Public Law 119-60): $890.6 billion authorized, acquisition reform, troop floors in Europe and KoreaThe annual defense authorization law for fiscal year 2026 (1 October 2025 – 30 September 2026), signed on 18 December 2025, authorizes $890.6 billion for national defense programs within the Armed Services Committees’ jurisdiction, $8 billion above the President’s request. It sets active-duty end strengths, rewrites defense acquisition around « portfolio acquisition executives », writes the « Golden Dome for America » missile defense policy into law, extends Ukraine aid authority to 2029, bars funds from reducing U.S. forces in Europe below 76,000 or in South Korea below 28,500 before a certification, and repeals the 1991 and 2002 Iraq war authorizations. An authorization act does not appropriate money: the funds themselves were provided by the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2026, enacted on 3 February 2026.Read the factsheet →
- CanadaEnvironment, energy & climateUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceRemoval of the consumer carbon price (federal fuel charge), 2025Since 1 April 2025 the federal fuel charge — the « consumer carbon price » in force since 2019, $80 (Canadian) per tonne in 2024-25 — has been set at zero, and households received a final Canada Carbon Rebate in April 2025. The Making Life More Affordable for Canadians Act (royal assent on 12 March 2026) removes it from law; the repeal of Part 1 of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act as a whole takes effect on 1 April 2035. Industrial carbon pricing (Part 2, output-based pricing system) remains.Read the factsheet →
- IndiaPurchasing power & pricesUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceGST rate rationalisation (« GST 2.0 »), 2025On 3 September 2025 India’s GST Council, which brings together the Union and the States, replaced the four main rates of the goods and services tax (5, 12, 18 and 28%) with a standard rate of 18% and a merit rate of 5%, plus a special 40% rate for a few « sin » and luxury goods, into which the compensation cess is merged. The new rates apply since 22 September 2025; tobacco products and pan masala followed on 1 February 2026, when the compensation cess on them was withdrawn. The government puts the net revenue cost at about ₹47,700 crore; States such as Kerala fear a larger loss for themselves.Read the factsheet →
- European UnionImmigration & integrationUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceEU Pact on Migration and Asylum (2024)Ten EU acts adopted on 14 May 2024 and applied since 12 June 2026 overhaul asylum and migration rules: mandatory screening of irregular arrivals at the external borders (up to seven days), a common asylum procedure with a mandatory border procedure (up to 12 weeks), a reformed Eurodac database, new rules on which Member State is responsible for an application and a permanent solidarity mechanism. The first Annual Solidarity Pool, for 2026, sets 21,000 relocations and €420 million of financial contributions as reference numbers.Read the factsheet →
- AustraliaEducation & trainingUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceSocial media minimum age of 16 (2024 Act and 2026 enforcement Act)Since 10 December 2025, platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, X and YouTube must take « reasonable steps » to prevent Australians under 16 from holding an account. Children and parents face no penalty: the obligation and fines fall on platforms, up to 150,000 penalty units (A$49.5m) for a company, doubled by a 2026 Act.Read the factsheet →
- CanadaHealthUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceCanadian Dental Care Plan and the interim Canada Dental BenefitFederal dental coverage for residents without dental insurance and with an adjusted family net income below $90,000, with no co-pays below $70,000. It started with an interim benefit for children under 12 (Dental Benefit Act, November 2022), then the Canadian Dental Care Plan, an administrative programme of Health Canada announced in Budget 2023 ($13.0bn over five years). Enrolment opened by age group from December 2023 and to every eligible resident in May 2025.Read the factsheet →
- South KoreaHealthUpdated: November 5, 2026AbandonedMedical school admission quota: the 2,000-place increase and its reversalOn 6 February 2024 the government raised the medical school admission quota, frozen at 3,058 since 2006, by 2,000 places a year from 2025 (5,058). Residents walked out; 4,567 students were finally recruited in 2025, then 3,058 in 2026. Under a framework act amended in April 2025, an independent estimation committee and the Health and Medical Policy Deliberation Committee replaced the plan in February 2026 with a smaller increase: 3,548 places in 2027, 3,671 in 2028 and 2029, then 3,871 with new schools in 2030 and 2031.Read the factsheet →
- ItalyJusticeUpdated: November 5, 2026AbandonedConstitutional reform separating the careers of judges and prosecutors, rejected by referendumThe constitutional bill tabled by Giorgia Meloni and Carlo Nordio split the ordinary judiciary into two careers, judges and prosecutors, each with its own High Council of the Judiciary whose members would be drawn by lot, and moved disciplinary jurisdiction to a new High Disciplinary Court. Parliament adopted it in second deliberation on 30 October 2025 by an absolute majority but below two thirds, which opened the way to a confirmatory referendum. At the vote of 22-23 March 2026 the result was not favourable to the text, which therefore never entered into force.Read the factsheet →
- FranceJusticeUpdated: November 3, 2026In forceJustice orientation and programming act 2023-2027The act of 20 November 2023 sets the payment appropriations of the « Justice » budget mission (excluding pensions) from €9.58bn in 2023 to €10.75bn in 2027, 10,000 net job creations including 1,500 magistrates and 1,800 court clerks, and authorises a rewrite of the Code of Criminal Procedure by ordinance. An organic act passed alongside reforms the status of magistrates. The 2025 and 2026 budgets fell short of the path; the 2027 finance bill exceeds it.Read the factsheet →
- United StatesJusticeUpdated: November 3, 2026In forceFirst Step Act of 2018: federal prison and sentencing reformSigned on 21 December 2018, the First Step Act lets federal prisoners earn time credits — 10 to 15 days per 30 days of recidivism-reduction programmes, assigned by a risk assessment tool (PATTERN) — toward home confinement or early supervised release. It also cuts some mandatory minimum sentences for repeat drug offences, broadens the « safety valve », makes the 2010 Fair Sentencing Act retroactive and bans restraints on pregnant prisoners. It applies to the federal system only, not to state prisons.Read the factsheet →
- United KingdomHousingUpdated: November 5, 2026In forcePlanning and Infrastructure Act 2025 and the 1.5 million homes targetThe Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025 (Royal Assent on 18 December 2025) speeds up consent for major infrastructure, allows regulations letting English councils set their own planning fees, allows the government to require planning decisions to be delegated to officers or committees, creates a « Nature Restoration Fund » in which developers pay a levy to Natural England instead of mitigating site by site, and reforms compulsory purchase and grid connections. It is phased in by commencement regulations. The government presents it as a pillar of its milestone of 1.5 million new homes in England over this Parliament; MHCLG estimates 437,900 net additional homes from 9 July 2024 to 20 September 2026.Read the factsheet →
- AustraliaHousingUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceNational Housing Accord and Housing Australia Future Fund: 1.2 million homes in five yearsAnnounced in the October 2022 federal Budget, the National Housing Accord commits the federal, state and territory governments to a housing supply target, raised by National Cabinet on 16 August 2023 to 1.2 million new well-located homes over five years from 1 July 2024. Its main legislative instrument, the Housing Australia Future Fund Act 2023 (Royal Assent on 28 September 2023, in force since 1 November 2023), sets up a $10 billion fund whose returns finance social and affordable housing through the agency Housing Australia. Together with the Accord facility, the programme now targets 40,000 social and affordable homes by 30 June 2029; as at 30 June 2026, 1,529 of them were complete.Read the factsheet →
- ItalyInstitutional trustUpdated: November 5, 2026Under debateThe « premierato » constitutional reform: direct election of the Prime MinisterThe Meloni government’s constitutional bill would have the President of the Council of Ministers elected directly, for five years and at the same time as Parliament, with a nationwide seat bonus guaranteeing a majority to the lists linked to them; it also ends the appointment of senators for life by the head of State. The Senate approved it at first deliberation on 18 June 2024. As of 5 November 2026 it is still before the Constitutional Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, which held hearings until July 2025: the Chamber must still approve it, then both chambers must vote on it a second time, at least three months after their first vote.Read the factsheet →
- United KingdomSocial cohesion, poverty & inequalityUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceAbolition of the two-child limit in Universal Credit (2026)Since April 2017, the child element of Universal Credit (and of Child Tax Credit until it closed in 2025) was paid for at most two children, with exceptions. Announced in the Budget of 26 November 2025, the Universal Credit (Removal of Two Child Limit) Act 2026 abolishes this limit for assessment periods starting on or after 6 April 2026. In April 2026, 478,120 households with 1.7 million children were not receiving the element for at least one child. The OBR puts the cost at £3.0bn in 2029-30; the government expects 450,000 fewer children in relative poverty in 2029-30.Read the factsheet →
- ItalySocial cohesion, poverty & inequalityUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceDifferentiated autonomy act for ordinary-statute regions (Calderoli act, 2024)Law no. 86 of 26 June 2024 sets the procedure by which an ordinary-statute region can obtain extra powers from the State under article 116(3) of the Constitution, through an agreement (intesa) approved by Parliament. In December 2024 the Constitutional Court struck down or rewrote several provisions: only specific functions justified by subsidiarity can be transferred, and the delegation to set the essential levels of services (LEP) fell. In January 2025 it declared the repeal referendum inadmissible. In October 2026 the government approved agreements with Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont and Veneto on four matters; the four bills are before the Chamber of Deputies.Read the factsheet →
- European UnionArtificial intelligenceUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceEU Artificial Intelligence Act (2024) and its 2026 « Digital Omnibus » amendmentRegulation (EU) 2024/1689, in force since 1 August 2024, regulates AI according to risk: eight practices banned since 2 February 2025, rules for general-purpose AI models since 2 August 2025, obligations for high-risk systems, transparency duties, fines of up to €35m or 7% of worldwide turnover. Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (« Digital Omnibus on AI »), in force since 27 July 2026, postponed the high-risk obligations to 2 December 2027 and 2 August 2028 and added a ban on « nudification » apps and AI-generated child sexual abuse material from 2 December 2026.Read the factsheet →
- IndiaArtificial intelligenceUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceDigital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and its 2025 RulesAssented to on 11 August 2023, India’s general data protection law sets the rules for processing digital personal data: consent or « legitimate uses », duties for « data fiduciaries », rights for individuals, a Data Protection Board and penalties of up to ₹250 crore (₹2.5 billion) per breach. It also exempts State bodies notified by the government and rewrites a personal-information exemption of the Right to Information Act. The Rules notified on 13 November 2025 phase it in: the Board first, consent managers one year later, most obligations eighteen months later.Read the factsheet →
- JapanDemographyUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceChildren’s Future Strategy and the child-rearing support levyAdopted by the Cabinet on 22 December 2023 to reverse the fall in births « before the 2030s », the Children’s Future Strategy sets an « acceleration plan » of about ¥3.6 trillion: child allowance without income cap and up to high-school age, ¥100,000 pregnancy benefit, leave benefit worth 100% of take-home pay. The act of 12 June 2024 finances part of it with a new levy collected with health insurance premiums since April 2026, rising to about ¥1 trillion in fiscal 2028.Read the factsheet →
- South KoreaPensionsUpdated: November 5, 2026In forceNational Pension reform of 2025: contributions from 9% to 13%, replacement rate of 43%Adopted by the National Assembly on 20 March 2025 and in force since 1 January 2026, the amendment to the National Pension Act raises the contribution rate — unchanged at 9% since 1998 — by 0.5 point a year to 13% in 2033, sets the nominal replacement rate at 43% instead of letting it fall to 40% by 2028, writes the State’s guarantee of payment into the law and extends childbirth and military-service credits. It is the first parametric reform since 2007; the structural reform is left to a special committee of the Assembly.Read the factsheet →
- FrancePensionsUpdated: October 31, 2026Suspended2023 pension reform: legal retirement age raised to 64The law of 14 April 2023 gradually raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 and speeds up the increase in the required contribution period. The 2026 social security financing act shifted this phase-in by one generation for pensions starting from 1 September 2026.Read the factsheet →
