France Unitary state

Reforms

Following on from the territorial reforms passed in 2010 and an act adopted on 17 May 2013, parliament has embarked on a new wave of decentralisation, dubbed “Decentralisation Act III”, by passing a series of acts:

• the act on modernising local government and strengthening metropolitan areas (MAPTAM) (27 January 2014)
• the act on the demarcation of regions, regional and departmental elections, and amending the election calendar (16 January 2015)
• the local administration reform act (NOTRe) (7 August 2015).

Inter-municipal cooperation has been a key ingredient of territorial reforms in France, with a particular emphasis on the so-called “urban question”.

A new inter-municipal cooperation structure – the metropolitan area (métropole) – has emerged, with specific provisions designed to transfer all departmental powers to the metropolitan areas of Paris, Marseille and Lyon.

Draft laws currently under consideration include plans to create a “territorial conference for public action” within each region, chaired by the president of the regional council. This new body will be where elected representatives draw up the “territorial governance pact”, which will set out how powers are distributed locally under the oversight of a lead authority. This, in turn, should ensure that powers are better distributed between different levels of local government.

For example, the regions will take clear leadership on transport and economic development affairs. And regions can obtain delegated powers to manage European Structural Funds if they so wish.

The 2015 local administration reform act also includes provisions to abolish the general jurisdiction clause for departments and regions.

France’s major conurbations (400,000 inhabitants, as against 500,000 in the 2010 act) will have a new “metropolitan area” status that will give them broader powers, particularly on economic development, the energy transition and urban policy.

The reforms introduced on 17 May 2013 have also changed how departmental elections are organised – allowing inter-municipal councils to view the candidates and ensuring gender balance across candidate lists.

Lastly, the economic and financial crisis has had an impact on France’s local and regional authorities. There are plans to cut funding from central government by €1.5 billion in 2014, and by a similar amount in 2015.

Local self-government in France:

The mayors of France’s smallest municipalities fear that they could lose many of their powers to inter-municipalities and large cities. However, local governements and the government are engaged in talks, and recent changes to the law appear to comply with the European Charter of Local Self-Government.

KEY REFORMS

• Decentralisation acts of 1982/1983.
• Constitutional act of 27 March 2003: enshrinement of the principal of decentralised organisation.
• Local government reform act of 16 December 2010:
  • creation of metropolitan areas
  • completion of the inter-municipality map
  • new status of “new municipality” to encourage municipal mergers
  • abolition of the general jurisdiction clause for regions and departments
• Act of 17 May 2013 on the election of departmental councillors, municipal councillors and community councillors, and amending the election calendar:
  • principle of election via direct universal suffrage
  • creation of a “metropolitan area” status for large conurbations
• Act of 27 January 2014 on modernising local government and strengthening metropolitan areas (MAPTAM):
  • reinstatement of the general jurisdiction clause for departments and regions repealed by the act of December 2010
  • clarification of the concept of “lead authority” (on matters spanning the powers of more than one tier of local government, a lead authority is appointed as follows: the region, as the lead authority, is responsible for arranging joint action by all local governements and their public entities)
• Act of 16 January 2015 on the demarcation of regions, regional and departmental elections, and amending the election calendar:
  • division of France into 13 regions (as opposed to 22 previously), postponement of the regional elections from March to December 2015, based on the new constituencies arising from the creation of new authorities from 1 January 2016
• Act of 16 March 2015 improving the new municipal system established by the act of 16 December 2010
• Local administration reform act (NOTRe) of 7 August 2015:
  • abolition of the general jurisdiction clause for regions and departments
  • strengthening of regional powers
  • reduction of departmental powers
  • strengthening of inter-municipal cooperation
  • changes to regional divisions
  • changes to municipalities, inter-municipalities and metropolitan areas