Ask for the program! While it has been in effect since 2015, the merger of the region continues to crystallize the debates in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Among the 7 heads of the list for the 2021 Regional, Marie-Guite Dufay (PS), the outgoing president is the only one to make a positive assessment. Denis Thuriot (LREM), Stéphanie Modde (EELV) and Bastien Baudot (LFI) do not question it but believe that its effects are still pending. Claire Rochet believes that the merger has no impact on workers’ concerns. As for the fierce opponents, Julien Odoul (RN) and Gilles Platret (LR) make him responsible for a territorial imbalance and a loss of local identities.
The ballot whose rounds will take place on June 20 and then on June 27 could be played on the question of territory. Defenses of rural areas, balance between Dijon and Besançon and defense of Burgundian and Franche-Comté identities, a brief overview of the measures proposed by the candidates.
On the question of rurality
Julien Odoul does not go there by 4 ways. For him, the new community set aside the countryside and agricultural land. “The merger was a huge lie. Everyone was the loser, especially the rural areas”, considers the head of the RN list.
Marie-Guite Dufay defends herself. According to her, the regional council has financed the projects of large agglomerations like those of rural areas. “We need to have a balance in our policies between supporting rurality and metropolises. We need metropolises that drive economic development. And we are a rural region. We need to do both”.
But the PS candidate concedes that it is now necessary to move on to a new stage in the process of reunification of the regions. “We must go into more detail. In each sector, there must be a great consideration of specificities”.
VIDEO. What measures for the balance of the territory? Is the Bourgogne Franche-Comté merger successful? Compare the candidates’ proposals.
My proposals for territorial balance
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© Gaël Simon
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Many candidates in the regional elections of 2021 intend to defend the interests of the campaigns in the first rural community in France. Stéphanie Modde thus wants to rebalance the territories in Burgundy-Franche-Comté by protecting local shops and nursing homes. “I do not put anyone in competition but in complementarity”.
A point that brings her closer to the head of the LFI list, Bastien Faudot who wants to fight against the “desertification” campaigns by maintaining public services. “The process of metropolization leads to strong inequalities and competition between territories”, he draws up.
In total, out of its 8 departments, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté has 5 qualified as “rural” by INSEE. The Côte-d’Or, the Doubs and the Territoire de Belfort are exceptions and are “intermediaries”, namely half-urban, half-rural.
Denis Thuriot and Gilles Platret propose a similar solution in order to voice the interests of all these agricultural communities and their inhabitants. Create establishments in the Region as close as possible to the inhabitants.
The head of the LREM list, whose slogan is “The Region everywhere and for all” wishes to create regional council structures one hour away from each resident of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. “A real fusion requires a presence everywhere and for all in the whole region”, considers the candidate. As for Gilles Platret, he proposes to create a regional house in each department. “We want to bring the decision-making centers closer to the citizens. We will have a policy on the ground”.
In his desire to denounce the “drifts” of capitalism, the candidate of Lutte Ouvrière, Claire Rocher evokes relatively little the question of the merger of the regions and the balancing of all the territories in her program. “Us, it does not change anything in our lives, in the low wages and in the fear of unemployment to belong to a large or a small region”.
Julien Odoul’s proposals
- For one euro paid in metropolitan areas, one euro paid into rural areas
- Decentralization of the Region
Stéphanie Modde’s proposals:
- Develop local public services in rural areas
- Guarantee access to health
Marie-Guite Dufay’s proposals:
- Help maintain local commerce
- Bring broadband and fiber
Bastien Faudot’s proposals
- Create public service houses in each department
- Bring broadband and fiber
Gilles Platret’s proposals
- Create a Regional House in each department
- Decentralization of the Region
Claire Rocher’s proposals
- No specific proposal
Denis Thuriot’s proposals
- Bring broadband and fiber
- A regional council structure less than an hour from each inhabitant
What is the balance between Dijon and Besançon?
95% of the municipalities in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté are presented as “rural” by INSEE. The cities of Dijon and Besançon bring together the most dense urban fabrics in the region. For some candidates, the functioning of the whole community requires a fair balance between them.
“The two capitals Dijon and Besançon must complement each other and no longer compete as in the past”, believes Stéphanie Modde, one of whose measures is to guarantee the presence of a headquarters of the Crous and the University of Burgundy and Franche-Comté in Besançon. Bastien Faudot proposes to transfer some regional infrastructure to Besançon. “On this question, there is a need to make clear choices, which were not made in 2015”, advances the LFI candidate.
Gilles Platret goes even further and proposes to create a new entity: Bourgogne and Franche-Comté. “That makes sense”. The mayor of Chalon-sur-Saône (Saône-et-Loire) wants to create two different commissions within the regional council, one for Burgundy, one for Franche-Comté. “The elected members of the Franche-Comté region will deal with the Franche-Comté files. The Burgundian representatives will deal with the Burgundian files”.
If for Claire Rocher, the question of fusion is totally abstract, “this is really a question for the capitalists who are eyeing the markets and the politicians who are looking for a place”, Denis Thuriot makes the theme a central issue for the future regional council. “It is a real challenge to succeed in a real merger. We always reason in terms of Burgundy or Franche-Comté, this is proof that we have not yet succeeded”.
Julien Odoul finds him the proof of what he presents as a failure in the imbalance of the subsidies granted by the regional council. “Franche-Comté was not included but rather annexed. The merger only does business for the metropolis of Dijon”, estimates the head of the RN list who therefore wishes to review the distribution of the Region’s aid.
An argument vigorously opposed by the president of the region, Marie-Guite Dufay. “It’s a fantasy. We set up an entity that poses itself as the first public investor in the region. Despite the constraints, we have made Burgundy-Franche-Comté a territory of projects”. The president of the regional council, candidate for re-election, however, does not present new proposals for a rebalancing between Dijon and Besançon.
Julien Odoul’s proposals
- Rebalance public aid
- Rewrite of the stimulus contract signed with the State
Stéphanie Modde’s proposals:
- Provide headquarters for CROUS and the University of Burgundy and Franche-Comté in Besançon
Marie-Guite Dufay’s proposals:
- No specific proposal on a balance between Dijon and Besançon
Bastien Faudot’s proposals
- Audit to assess the consequences of the merger of the regions
- Transfer regional organizations to Besançon
Gilles Platret’s proposals
- Support the two Regional Council sites in Dijon and Besançon
Claire Rocher’s proposals
- No specific proposal on a balance between Dijon and Besançon
Denis Thuriot’s proposals
- Sign a “Regional Pact of Territory”
The two rounds of the 2021 regional elections will take place on June 20 and 27.
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