THE Conference of the Departments of France 2024 open in a context of an unprecedented budgetary crisis for the Departments, marked by an explosion in expenditure and a fall in revenue. Faced with this situation, a third of the Departments are struggling to make ends meet and carry out their human and territorial solidarity missions. While the social aspect has increased from 60% to 70% of budgets in less than ten years, the collapse of dynamic revenues, estimated at -7 billion euros at the end of 2024 due to the real estate crisis, further reduces margins maneuver. The 2025 Finance Bill (PLF) nevertheless provides for new measures to contribute to the recovery of public finances which would weigh heavily on the Departments. With a contribution of more than 2 billion euros required from the Departments alone – or 40% of the measures relating to the contribution of local authorities – the latter would find themselves even more exposed, even though they are already on the front line to ensure the social and territorial cohesion. If the PLF were applied as planned, 85% of the Departments would find themselves in a position to no longer be able to meet their obligations in 2025. “In this uncertain period, the Department of Maine-et-Loire wants to spearhead the mobilization against injustice. By a motion adopted unanimously on October 16, we refused the levies decided by Bercy which worsen the situation of our communities, already weakened by sharply decreasing resources and constantly growing social spending. Today, the anger of the territories is growing, the Departments are taking on the eternal role of scapegoats. The 103 presidents must commit to concrete proposals for the government. This is my wish. Be on the move, in the development of pragmatic and operational measures. The Angers Assizes will be an Assizes of combat and action. The Departments are ready to take their responsibilities, to participate in the national effort but through dialogue and building a long-term strategy! We refuse the territorial divide! We refuse collapse! We refuse injustice! », Testifies Florence Dabin.
“It is not up to our communities to pay for the State’s slippages”
For François Sauvadet, former Minister and President of Departments of France: “The excitement aroused in each of our communities by the 2025 finance bill will give these three days of exchanges and common reflections exceptional relevance. At a time when our finances are experiencing both a revenue crisis and an explosion in spending, it is more important than ever to show that beyond their political sensitivities, the Departments vigorously defend the interests of the French as the most fragile territories. Whatever it cost, it had a very high price and it is not up to our communities to pay for the State’s slippages. By compensating, for years, the disengagement of the territorial State and with an ever-increasing burden on the AIS, we are already participating and in considerable proportions in reducing the deficit. Solidarity has a cost, to deny it is to lie to the French. We have reached the end of the system which, like stewardship, wanted the Departments to follow! This headlong rush must stop, we are gathered around the fundamental idea expressed strongly in Alsace in the European Parliament, that decentralization, to be successful, must recognize the capacity of the Departments to respond to the major challenges of our society, to overcome the obstacles and support the new dynamics that drive our territories. It is by freeing the Departments’ capacity to act and giving them the means to carry out their projects locally that we will restore the confidence of the French in public life! »
Departmental Demands and Proposals
Faced with the critical financial situation and the threats weighing on their missions, the Departments are formulating several demands and proposals to guarantee their sustainability and continue to serve citizens effectively:
– Refusal of unfunded additional charges: the Departments ask that the State respects the principle of “who decides pays”. They refuse to assume new social charges without full compensation. They consider it unfair to impose new expenditure on them when they have already absorbed more than 18 billion euros in expenditure on behalf of the State in 2024.
– Opposition to the freezing of VAT and the capping of revenues: the proposal to freeze the dynamics of VAT and drain community revenues within the framework of the PLF 2025 is considered unacceptable. The Departments believe that these measures would further weaken their ability to act, while their room for maneuver is already very limited by the drop in DMTO and the absence of any tax lever since 2019.
– Request for a temporary increase in DMTO rates: to compensate for the fall in revenue from DMTOs, this temporary increase would make it possible to regain budgetary room for maneuver and maintain the level of local investments.
– Strengthening the Safeguard Fund: the Departments are requesting an increase in the safeguard fund intended to support the Departments most in difficulty, to bring it to 200 million euros. Last year this fund enabled 14 Departments to complete their budgets. There will be 30 at the end of the year, as the deterioration accelerates.
– Call for a new economic model for the road: while the Departments manage 380,000 km of departmental roads, they only receive a tiny part of the revenue generated by the road. They are demanding a fairer distribution of road revenues, in order to finance the maintenance and modernization of their road infrastructures (roads, bridges and tunnels). As such, the Road Conference, scheduled for January 22, 2025, will be an opportunity to debate this economic model and the place of Departments in mobility management.
– Defense of decentralization and proximity: the Departments plead for reinforced decentralization, which recognizes their leading role in the management of solidarity and territorial cohesion. This requires a real partnership with the State, based on trust and recognition of territorial expertise.
