The National Assembly and Senate have adopted the draft bill on the new territorial structure of the country after a first agreement from the Joint Committee on the text on 16 July.  This represents the 3rd part of the territorial reform instigated by President Hollande. 

Decentralisation allows the transfer of administrative competences from the State to local authorities. Today, France is made up of 4 levels of local administration: 101 departments, 36 700 municipalities, 22 regions and 2 600 intermunicipal groups in France. These levels result in a complex organisation with shared competences and financial overlap making it quite difficult to understand for the citizen and hindering the efficiency of the public sector.

The reform seeks to change the face of the French territory for the next decades and aims at reducing public expenditure and to better respond to the needs of the citizens.

Find out more about the new regions in France. (French)