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French Senate adopts adapted text on territorial reforms

In the early hours of Saturday morning the French Senate passed an adopted version of the text on territorial reform that omits crucial elements contained in the original document.

Reuters/Philippe Wojazer
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French Senators voted to reject the new regional map drawn up by the government and also the requirement that new regional elections be held in December 2015.

The text on the distribution of regional advisors and the replacement of departmental advisors was passed.

Senator Guillaume Didier commented that the bill that was passed is now no more than a shadow of the territorial reform proposed in the original document.

French Demographer Gérard François Dumont spoke out against these reforms. He told RFI that the government’s attempt at territorial reform is a “false reform”.

The Bill will now go to the National Assembly that is likely to revert to the original document and restore the changes that were made by the Senate.

Dumont told RFI that he does not understand the logic behind the territorial reforms.

“No country in the world has ever considered decreasing by one third the number of its regions. It’s hard to see what the economic benefits of the reform are. This year, Germany was the country that received the most foreign direct investment. I don’t see why France, by reducing the number of regions, would see an increase in foreign investment.”

The territorial reforms as proposed by Hollande’s government are seen as one of the biggest symbolic plans of his term.

Announced in January, the plan hopes to make life easier for residents and businesses by trimming the country's layers of bureaucracy.

 

 

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