DECRYPTION – While a meeting of overseas mayors, this Monday in Issy-les-Moulineaux, kicks off the 106e congress of mayors of France, which Michel Barnier will conclude on Thursday, academic Martial Foucault returns to the growing tensions between mayors and the State.
Former director of Cévipof, Martial Foucault is a professor at Sciences Po. Latest work published: “Mayors on the verge of a nervous breakdown”, Éditions de l'Aube, 2020.
The straw that is breaking the camel's back in discord between mayors and the state looks more like an ocean. An ocean of savings of 5 billion euros according to the government, but which the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) estimates at 10 billion. Michel Barnier's announcements, during the presentation of the 2025 budget, revived old tensions between the national executive and its local counterparts. Already, between 2015 and 2017, local authorities had been asked to reduce their budgets by 10 billion euros; after two highly contested territorial reforms (Maptam laws in 2014 and NOTRe in 2015). It is an understatement to say that the mayors and department presidents did not welcome the intentions of the new government with enthusiasm.
Reestablishing a consideration link
From September 2024, declarations…
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