With 34,955 municipalities, France has a much larger network than its European neighbours. Despite the management problems for small towns, the French remain attached to their villages.
The French remain attached to their land. As of January 1, 2022, France had 34,955 municipalities spread over the entire territory, underlines the Court of Auditors in its latest report (PDF). This is a record within the European Union which poses a number of problems for the French administration.
Because it has more than its European neighbors
For the Court of Auditors, it is first of all a concern of size. In its report, the institution thus denounces the “persistence of too many too small municipalities”. Of the approximately 35,000 French municipalities, half (49.6%) are populated by less than 500 inhabitants. And if we consider municipalities with less than 1,000 inhabitants, the rate even rises to 71.6%. “The dispersion and lack of critical mass of the vast majority of French municipalities sets their situation apart from that of most of their European counterparts”notes the Court of Auditors.
In comparison, Germany, Spain and Italy have succeeded in recent years in significantly reducing their number of municipalities. As a result, the Germans have 10,795 municipalities for 84 million inhabitants, the Spaniards 8,112 for 47 million inhabitants and the Italians 7,904 for 60 million inhabitants. After activating the calculator, this gives an average population: 1,891 inhabitants for the French municipalities (in 2017), 7,450 inhabitants for the German ones, 7,960 for the Italian ones, 15,507 for the Polish ones, 19,938 for the Belgian ones or even 45,071 for the Dutch.
Because small municipalities are difficult to manage
For very small towns, it is sometimes difficult to carry out all the missions provided for by law, whether in terms of housing, social action, town planning, the environment or even land use planning. “The size of small municipalities became a handicap when Act I of decentralization abolished prefectural supervision and gave them new technical skills, particularly in terms of town planning”says the Court of Auditors.
Another problem is that it is not always easy to find elected officials to administer these small municipalities. In 2020, 106 municipalities thus found themselves without a candidate for municipal elections. “It takes time, it’s true that we are in demand all the time, peace of mind takes a hit, as does family life”explained a mayor to franceinfo in 2020. “The management of these small communities often relies on a mayor combining his mandate with a professional activity, benefiting from the support of less than two municipal agents”adds the Court of Auditors.
The large number of municipalities, as well as the territorial millefeuille (intermunicipal, department, region), also has a cost for the State, since the latter is the main contributor to the budget of the communities. The State therefore encourages, via financial advantages, the grouping together of municipalities, since the pooling of resources can generate savings. “State grants will not be reduced, they will even be slightly increased for three years”noted the mayor of Mametz (Pas-de-Calais), interviewed by France 3, during the merger of his municipality in 2019. Maintaining the allocations is effectively accompanied by a 5% bonus, under certain demographic conditions.
Because grouping policies have failed
The number of municipalities rose from around 44,000 in 1790 to 38,076 in 1962. It has only been reduced by 8% since that date, notes the Court of Auditors. At the same time, the number of German municipalities rose from 24,000 in 1960 to 8,500 in 1989, on the eve of reunification. However, the State has been trying for many years to reduce the number of municipalities. As early as 1971, before Act I of decentralization in 1982, the so-called “Marcellin” law was already seeking to promote groupings, but with only 1,068 deletions, the results will be well below the objectives set.
In 2010, the reform of local authorities introduced an “à la carte” merger regime. The former merged municipalities could thus acquire visible and concrete powers, such as the power to celebrate marriages. But here too, the results are modest, with a decrease of 1,529 in the number of municipalities between 1962 and 1982, recall the Elders of rue Cambon. Finally, the so-called “Pélissard” law of 2015 relating to the improvement of the regime of the new municipality has shown greater efficiency (with the consolidation of 2,498 municipalities within 796 new municipalities).
To obtain faster results, Germany chose to operate through forced mergers. But the attachment of the French to their commune has so far led successive governments to reject this radical solution. This strong relationship “reflects the demand for management closer to the needs of citizens, which the episode of the ‘yellow vests’ and the health crisis have undoubtedly further accentuatednotes the Court of Auditors. The French thus identify more with their commune than with the higher levels and know their mayor better than the president of the regional, departmental or community council.