France, the European champion of municipalities

France has just under 36,000 municipalities. Despite new provisions to reduce the number, our country is still far ahead of all other members of the European Union.

36.000. The almost mythical figure of the number of French communes has lived on. France fell below this mark in 2016 and now has "only" 35,498 communes. This remains - by far - a record in Europe. More than a record, an exception. In 2008, France had 40% of the total number of communes in all European Union countries, according to a study by Dexia, the bank for local authorities. Germany came second, but with three times fewer communes than France.

"On average, a French commune has 1,800 inhabitants compared with 5,500 for the European Union and 55,000 in Denmark," said an OECD report in 2013. And the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development called for a reduction in the number of communes because this administrative division "hinders the implementation of public policies by segmenting employment areas and the industrial fabric.

"The strength of the communal identity"

In the 1960s-1970s, European states experienced a movement to reduce the number of communes. France tried to follow the wave, notably with the Marcellin law of 1971, which resulted in only 581 mergers. During this time, Sweden divided the number of its communes by eight. In Europe, many mergers have been carried out in an authoritarian manner, while France has favoured voluntary consolidation.

In a 2009 report by the Senate, Yves Krattinger and Jacqueline Gourault - the latter is now Minister to the Minister of State, Gérard Collomb -, pointed out "the strength of the communal identity and the importance of the commune as a basic unit", and set it up as a place of local democracy. They rightly pointed out that in a country where politicians are frowned upon, the mayor seems to escape this judgment. The report recommended an "incentive to voluntary merger of municipalities on the basis of local referendums". In 2014, François Fillon had a more radical proposal: he wanted to go "from 36,000 communes to 6,000 or 7,000."

Source: www.lejdd.fr/