Collectivité territoriale
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A collectivité territoriale (sometimes collectivité locale) is the generic name for all French subnational entities and dependent areas which have an elected local government and (per article #72 of the French constitution) a "certain freedom of administration".
Contents
Categories
- Regions : There are 21 régions, all in metropolitan France.
- Régions d'outre-mer (ROM) : There are 4 ROM, all overseas.
- Collectivités d'outre-mer (COM) : There are 4 COM, all overseas.
- Départements : There are 96 départements, all in metropolitan France.
- Départements d'outre-mer (DOM) : There are 4 DOM, all overseas.
- Provinces : There are 3 provinces, all in New Caledonia.
- Communes : There are 36,782 communes, in all the French inhabited territories except Wallis and Futuna.
Other facts
- New Caledonia is the only French local government which is not a collectivité territoriale. It has its own articles in the French constitution. Since it cannot be categorized, it sometimes unofficially is called a collectivité sui generis, but "collectivity" is not strictly-speaking a legal category. It is sometimes unofficially called a pays (d'outre-mer) because its local legislative assembly (the congress) can rule using its own lois du pays.
- Corsica is the only collectivité territoriale which belongs to no category, but its status is very close to that of régions.
- The régions and Corsica are divided into départements ; ROM are divided into DOM ; New Caledonia is divided into provinces ; départements, COM (except Wallis and Futuna), DOM and provinces all are divided into communes.
- The commune of Poya is the only territorial entity belonging to two upper entities (provinces North and South).
- Paris, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, La Réunion and Martinique are the only territorial entities belonging to two categories. Paris is both a département and a commune, and the others are both ROM and DOM. Paris therefore has one single president and one single assembly, while ROM / DOM each have two presidents and two assemblies.
- Each COM has its own statutory law which gives it a particular designation (French Polynesia is designated as a pays d'outre-mer, Mayotte as a collectivité départementale, Saint Pierre and Miquelon as a collectivité territoriale, and Wallis and Futuna as a territoire).
Administration
- The assembly of a région and of a ROM is called a conseil régional. They are presided over by a président du conseil régional.
- The assembly of a département (except Paris), a DOM, or that of Mayotte or of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, is called a conseil général. They are presided over by a président du conseil général.
- The assembly of a province is called an assemblée de province. It is presided over by a président de l'assemblée de province.
- A commune's assembly (except that of Paris) is called a conseil municipal. It is presided over by a maire.
- Paris' assembly is called the conseil de Paris. It is presided over by the maire de Paris.
- Corsica's assembly is called the assemblée de Corse. It is presided over by the président du conseil exécutif de Corse.
- French Polynesia's assembly is called the assemblée de la Polynésie française. It is presided over by the président de la Polynésie française.
- Wallis and Futuna's assembly is called an assemblée territoriale. It is presided over by the administrateur supérieur des îles Wallis et Futuna.
- New Caledonia's assembly is called a congrès. It is presided over by the président du gouvernement.
Past and future collectivités territoriales
- The category of territoires d'outre-mer was suppressed under the constitutional reform of 28 march 2003. French Southern Territories is still a TOM, but this is now a particular designation, not a category. This uninhabited territory no longer is a collectivité territoriale.
- Mayotte, and Saint Pierre and Miquelon, used to be collectivités territoriales belonging to no category (but with a status close to that of a DOM), sometimes unofficially called collectivité territoriale à statut particulier, or collectivité territoriale d'outre-mer.
- Two communes of Guadeloupe, Saint Barthelemy and Saint Martin, have voted to become collectivités d'outre-mer.
- Mayotte will vote in 2010 to change its status, and it may become a DOM.
- New Caledonia will vote between 2014 and 2019 to change its status, and it may become a COM.
- Corsicans have refused to suppress the two départements of Corsica (Corse-du-Sud and Haute-Corse).
- Guadeloupians and Martiniquais have refused to suppress their ROM and DOM in order to create a unique collectivité territoriale.
See also
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