Local authorities are complaining that government cuts are leading to higher local taxes and/or fewer services. With 36000 communes many are going to be affected, so it seems sensible that some smaller communes should share their activities. This is done to some extent by the "communités de communes" but their activities are proscribed by law.
Now five small communes in Aveyron have taken the radical step of amalgamating into one new commune from January 1st 2016. This will mean closing 4 mairies, losing 4 maires and support staff and abolishing 4 conseils municipaux. The state has welcomed this and will pay the same subventions for the next three years to allow savings to be brought in progressively. The new commune will still be quite small, with 4500 inhabitants, but many of our local communes are much smaller than this - can you see any of our maires proposing to abolish themselves?
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