Government of France - Local Government

Local Government

Traditionally, decision-making in France used to be highly centralized, with each of France's departments headed by a prefect appointed by the central government, in addition to the conseil général, a locally elected council. However, in 1982, the national government passed legislation to decentralize authority by giving a wide range of administrative and fiscal powers to local elected officials. In March 1986, regional councils were directly elected for the first time, and the process of decentralization has continued, albeit at a slow pace. In March 2003, a constitutional revision has changed very significantly the legal framework towards a more decentralized system and has increased the powers of local governments.

Administrative units with a local government in Metropolitan France (that is, the parts of France lying in Europe) consist of:

• about 36,000 communes, headed by a municipal council and a mayor, grouped in
• 96 départements, headed by a conseil général (general council) and its president, grouped in
• 22 régions, headed by a regional council and its president.

The conseil général is an institution created in 1790 by the French Revolution in each of the newly created departments (they were suppressed by the Vichy government from 1942 to 1944). A conseiller général (departmental councillor) must be at least 21 years old and either live or pay taxes in locality from which he or she is elected. (Sociologist Jean Viard noted that half of all conseillers généraux were still fils de paysans, i.e. sons of peasants, suggesting France's deep rural roots). Though the central government can theoretically dissolve a conseil général (in case of a dysfunctional conseil), this has happened only once in the Fifth Republic.

The conseil général discusses and passes laws on matters that concern the department; it is administratively responsible for departmental employees and land, manages subsidized housing, public transportation, and school subsidies, and contributes to public facilities. It is not allowed to express "political wishes." The conseil général meets at least three times a year and elects its president for a term of 3 years, who presides over its "permanent commission," usually consisting of 5-10 other departmental councillors elected from among their number. The conseil général has accrued new powers in the course of the political decentralization that has occurred past in France during the past thirty years. There are in all more than 4,000 conseillers généraux in France.

Different levels of administration have different duties, and shared responsibility is common; for instance, in the field of education, communes run public elementary schools, while départements run public junior high schools and régions run public high schools, but only for the building and upkeep of buildings; curricula and teaching personnel are supplied by the national Ministry of Education.

The 3 main cities, Paris, Lyon and Marseille have a special statute. Paris is at the same time a commune and a département with an institution, the Conseil de Paris, that is elected at the same time as the other conseil municipaux, but that operates also as a conseil général. The 3 cities are also divided into arrondissement each having its conseil d'arrondissement and its mayor.

French overseas possessions are divided into two groups:

• Four overseas regions, with some strong similarity of organization to their metropolitan counterparts; in these overseas regions all laws of France are automatically applicable, except if a specific text provides otherwise or provides some adaptation. The four régions are fully incorporated parts of the territory of the French Republic, and as such belong to the European Union, which means that European law is applicable;
• Territories, generally having greater autonomy. In general, French laws are not applicable, except if a specific text provides otherwise. A new Territory was created in February 2007: Saint-Barthélemy. This Territory used to be part of the overseas département of Guadeloupe. The statute of Saint-Barthélemy provides the automatic application of French law, except mostly in the domain of taxes and immigration, which are left to the Territory. The Territories do not belong to the European Union. However, as "overseas territories" they have association agreements with the EU and may opt-in to some EU provisions. EU law applies to them only insofar is necessary to implement the association agreements.

All inhabited French territory is represented in both houses of Parliament and votes for the presidential election.

FRENCH RULE* Légifrance