“One of the causes of the failure of this five-year term is the inability to create local freedom”, estimated David Lisnard, new LR president of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) on November 17 and invited Sunday November 21 on franceinfo. The mayor of Cannes succeeds Francois Baroin. David Lisnard believes that“there is no desire for decentralization” in the current government.
franceinfo: You have largely beaten your rival, Philippe Laurent, yet “Macron compatible”. Is it a vote of no confidence?
David Lisnard: I already hope that it is a vote of adhesion for the project that I presented, and my pluralist list, in the tradition of the AMF. Many mayors who accompany us are not inscribed, because the vast majority of mayors in France do not have a political party. Among those who have a political commitment, as is my case, we go from the Communist Party to LR. Since 1907, this has been the strength of the AMF. It is an association of mayors to promote an approach of local freedoms, subsidiarity, and the search for public performance. This is what motivates us. This approach garnered support, with over 63%. And then the maneuvers which turned out to be remote-controlled by the Elysee or movements close to the executive, upset a certain number of mayors who want the AMF to remain a free association.
In what state of mind did you welcome Emmanuel Macron to close your Congress? You denounced before him a lack of dialogue and trust.
I welcomed him as we have always done at the AMF with the heads of state. It was very complicated at the start of his term, and it still is. The nationalization of the housing tax has further devitalized the municipalities and the civic link between tax liability and public action. Since then, things have calmed down. Certain legislative provisions are sometimes interesting, but there is no desire for decentralization. One of the causes of the failure of this five-year term is the inability to create local freedom.
In particular, you denounce an overwhelming bureaucracy. Do you think you will one day be heard by the State on this point?
We will have to be understood, since this penalizes businesses and town halls. It is not inevitable: it takes administration and procedure, it is part of a civilization. It is estimated in France that 33% of public officials only perform administrative tasks and not open to the public. The European average is 23.5%, and 25% for Germany, which is a heavily administered country. These eight points of difference between Germany and France represent 450,000 agents, that we could put back on the ground and find a proximity. We could save operating costs, defend taxpayers who really need it in France, and pay civil servants better.
The vast majority of legal texts under the Fifth Republic come from the government. When these texts concern the organization of public authorities, and a fortiori town halls, it would suffice for us to be able to work on them upstream, and avoid having the technocratic paths that we have had for years, conformists and above ground. We must also support the action of the National Standards Assessment Council, which makes proposals but is not heard. The challenge is to be able to regain simplicity and efficiency in the organization, in order to protect users, to find local service and to give meaning to the missions of public officials and civil servants. It is a reform that nobody talks about but which is essential: the reform of the state apparatus, the renewal of decentralization and the return of the principle of subsidiarity.