Abolishing the Conseils Generaux of the Departments was one thing Manuel Valls announced in his speech to the Assembly on April 8th. By 2021 their competences should be transferred either down to communes or up to regions. Nicholas Sarkozy also proposed streamlining France's many layered system of government, but abolishing Departments will be controversial. Established at the time of Napoleon these have been the traditional bodies to keep central government at arm's length. But it does lead to duplication of roles and more logical groupings of communes and local services could be made without the demarcation of the Department. Local TAGland communes could easily join together to provide services but are often prevented because they are in different Departments.
Valls also said that the number of Regions should be halved making larger authorities by fusion of the existing ones. Regional councils must bring forward proposals by 2017. If Midi Pyrenees joins with Aquitaine for example it could mean we are governed from Bordeaux rather than Toulouse. And nothing has been said about those 36000 communes, all with their maire and council regardless of size...
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