This resource, whose stock is also limited, is indisputably necessary for all public policies. Policy participants always allocate a “time budget” that is clearly defined by the different types of institutional rules (constitutional, administrative or sectoral) governing the (temporal) space of the policy. The respecting of deadlines is, therefore, the essential object of numerous conflicts relating to policy implementation, for example ensuring the compliance of all kinds of installations. The controversial aspect of this case is less the obligation in itself but the time assigned to implement … the changes in behaviour required under new legislation (for example, the remediation of polluted sites. The distribution of the resource time among the actors is usually unequal and the capacity to dominate the resource through control over the agenda constitutes a considerable power. The resource … also depends in part on the mobilization of other resources which allow actors to gain or lose time (for example through the submission of a legal appeal).

Moreover, the public actors who, due to their function, have more time than the representatives of social groups, who often work on a voluntary basis, sometimes … tend to over-estimate the importance of this resource in their projections and, as a result, block the participation of non-professionals. Ultimately, the public and private actors can … play on time by indicating that they will only act if the other actors involved also act in anticipation, simultaneously or subsequently: the application of the principle of “symmetry of sacrifice” which aims to ensure that all actors contribute equally to the resolution of the problem, also includes the temporal dimension, for example the equal or unequal treatment of the different target groups from a temporal perspective. (Knoepfel et al, 2010: 65)