Local authorities: Who decides what in France?

Who decides what in France? It’s not always easy to navigate between the different local authorities that exist in our country. Who should I contact if I want to obtain the renovation of a gym? Who can deal with my problem of noise from the road next to my house?

To get answers as quickly as possible, it is important to know who to contact, especially when you want to start an online petition. We will clarify the role and responsibilities of the different local authorities in France.

Municipalities: Closest to You! 

Let’s start with the local authority that is often the closest to you and therefore the most accessible: the Town Hall. In summary, we can say that it is the authority that will manage your daily life.

Starting with everything related to children: from the management of nurseries for the little ones, to preschools and primary schools for the older ones. It is also the municipality that will be responsible for everything related to leisure : leisure activities during holidays, for example, or sports or cultural associations. 

Another main responsibility of town halls concerns everything related to urban planning and the environment: through the issuance of building permits or the management of roads belonging to the Town Hall and the Local Urban Plan (PLU). It is also responsible for housing, often in connection with landlords. If you have a problem related to the allocation of housing, for example, it is the Town Hall you should turn to. 

Depending on the municipalities and their size, other responsibilities may be added. Everything related to security in particular, with some municipalities having a municipal police force, managing parking, or preventing delinquency. The number of elected officials in municipalities varies according to their size. The Municipal Council is elected for a term of 6 years. The Mayor and their deputies often hold office hours during which you can meet them. You will generally find this information on your city’s website. 

For example, these two petitions achieved victory thanks to the action of their municipality:  

• No to the project of a sports hall on Alsace Street, in place of our green spaces
• For a square in Avignon to be named after police officer Eric Masson, killed in the line of duty

Intercommunalities: Since 2010, the New Layer of Territorial Administration! 

Since the 2010 reform of local authorities, all municipalities belong to an intercommunality. This new layer was designed with a view to rationalising costs and allows for the pooling of certain services between several municipalities. Here too, responsibilities vary according to the intercommunities. However, there are several regulatory responsibilities, namely:

• the collection and treatment of waste 
• Water and sanitation 
• Tourism promotion 
• Reception areas for travellers 

Elected officials of intercommunities are elected at the same time as municipal councillors, for a term of 6 years. You will definitely have at least one representative from your municipality (often your Mayor) on the intercommunal council.

The Department, a Key Player in Social Action 

Among all local authorities, if you have a social issue, it is certainly the department that will be best able to help you.  

Through Child Social Aid primarily, which aims to take care of the protection of children and their families when they are faced with precarious situations or danger. The department also supports other vulnerable populations such as the elderly or people with disabilities through various public policies that vary by department. 

The RSA (active solidarity income) is also a scheme funded by the departments. Very concretely, it is the departments that finance it, but they are also responsible for supporting beneficiaries and implementing integration programs. In addition to this social plan, departments are mandated to take care of colleges, the roads that belong to the department, or even road and school transport outside urban areas. 

Elected officials of the departmental council are departmental councillors, elected for a term of 6 years. Your city is part of a canton that has two representatives (one man and one woman) on the departmental council. Like municipalities, your departmental councillors likely hold office hours during which you can meet them. 

Regions, a Local Authority with Varied Responsibilities

Since 2015, there are 18 regions (27 previously), this merger has led to a strengthening of their responsibilities. Among its areas of action, we first find transport mainly with the management of rail transport. It participates in the financing of infrastructure, such as the construction and maintenance of lines or stations. For example, if you encounter a problem with the closure of the train line you usually take to work, it is the region that will be best able to respond among all local authorities!

The region also has as its primary mission education and vocational training. In education, unlike departments, regions are responsible for high schools and CFA (Apprenticeship Training Centres).  Concretely, this translates into both the construction and maintenance of these structures, and the management of the staff working in these establishments. 

At MesOpinions, we had the example of a petition where the author requested that the choice of the site for a new high school be reviewed. After forming a collective and launching their petition which gathered 800 signatures in just a few days, they contacted the region to express their concerns and the site project was ultimately revised. 

The third main area of action for regions concerns economic development. It intervenes notably through the distribution of financial aid allocated to companies, to encourage them to settle in the regional territory, for example. It also regulates the distribution of European funds. In addition to these main missions, regions define the land use and sustainable development plan and ensure the protection of heritage (for example, through the restoration of buildings protected by law). Like the other local authorities we discussed above, regions, beyond these regulatory responsibilities, are often active in other areas. Most regions, for example, have someone in their executive team responsible for sports and culture. 

The number of regional councillors varies according to the size of the region, but generally, the representation of the territory is ensured, so you should have an elected official from your area within the Regional Council!

And the Government in all this?

When you have a cause to defend, it may be tempting to address the highest authorities directly: the minister responsible for your issue, or even the President of the Republic himself. Depending on the subject, this can be relevant. Just know that it will be more difficult to capture the attention of these influential (and sought-after!) personalities.

The Prefecture, on the other hand, represents the State in the relevant region or department. In other words, the prefect and sub-prefects ensure the direction of the State services in the community. These institutions can be contacted alongside a departmental or regional appeal to give a national scope to your fight.

If your goal is to prevent a construction in your municipality, the priority will be to address your petition and your appeals to local elected officials (see above in the article), residents, and other directly concerned individuals. If, on the contrary, your ambition is to regulate the establishment of factories in specific areas, the ministry responsible for this topic may be relevant. The fight will be longer and it will be more complex to make yourself heard, but it is crucial to understand who you need to address to achieve your goal. The key question to ask is “Who can make changes and respond to my request?”. Every time you launch a petition, this key question will help you optimise your efforts!

How to Contact Elected Officials?  

After identifying the local authority that is most competent to help you, you will need to get in touch with an elected official. You can choose them either because they have a delegation related to your issue (for example, regarding a gym problem, the deputy in charge of sports in your city seems to be the right person to help you). Or, you can choose an elected official who represents your area within the departmental or regional council. Depending on your fight and the requests that arise from it, you will need to choose the local authority and then the most relevant personality.

The websites of local authorities generally allow you to contact elected officials. Don’t hesitate to also request a physical meeting, for example during the office hours held by elected officials. Also, many elected officials now have profiles on Twitter, Facebook, or other digital tools. Don’t hesitate to reach out to them on these public platforms to get a quicker response. 

We advise you to present your petition when you have already managed to mobilise and obtain a number of signatures that satisfies you. The “right” number of signatures primarily depends on the nature of your fight, but it is not necessarily necessary to obtain thousands of signatures for your petition to become a credible argument in your fight.

If you don’t know how to proceed or if you need advice on who to contact, feel free to reach out to our team of experts who can assist you.