Extract
[...] The term of 'recentring' is often mentioned. (Jean-Marie Pontier, 'The reform of the territorial organization of the State' 2020). The State delegates certain competences to focus on the essential domains for the functioning of the State: maintenance of public order, control of legality, definition of national norms . This decentralization has worked: the transfer of a certain number of competences to territorial communities has allowed for real improvements in the quality of public services such as road maintenance or transportation. [...]
[...] In fact, since the decentralization laws, launched since 1982 and enshrined in Article 72 of the Constitution, local territorial communities have become major actors in local public action. Decentralization refers to the transfer of competences from the State to distinct entities from it. In accordance with Article 72 of the Constitution, these entities are territorial communities: communes, departments, regions, entities with a special status and overseas communities governed by Article 74 of the Constitution. For a long time, the French State model was centralized: the State was considered the only one able to structure the activities of society. [...]
[...] For example, in the context of the implementation of the national strategy to combat poverty, the State plays a major role in steering. In the field of sports, for example, the State's missions have been recentred around high-level sports and intervention in the least favored territories. On the other hand, territorial communities are responsible for managing equipment and proximity sports. The State also acts in the territories to combat inequalities, through financial equalization mechanisms and redistribution. In fact, not all territorial communities have the same resources. [...]
[...] Thanks to decentralization, communities benefit from a massive transfer of competences from the State, competences that were historically theirs. Municipalities are responsible for managing primary schools or local services, the department is a leader in the field of social action and is responsible for colleges, roads. The region, on the other hand, is responsible for economic development or high schools. This distribution is based on the principle of subsidiarity, provided for in Article 72, paragraph 2 of the Constitution: territorial communities are intended to take decisions for all competences that can be best implemented at their level. [...]
[...] We can notably find the urban solidarity grant (DSU) or the rural solidarity grant (DSR). The State also plays a major role in terms of redistribution, by financing national public policies implemented locally, such as in the field of poverty reduction. Thus, the interventions of the State and the communities are complementary and the State retains a major role to ensure national coherence and correct territorial inequalities. In addition, certain policies require a long-term vision, global data, and national expertise that only the State can provide, particularly in the field of ecological transition. [...]
