Communauté de communes
Encyclopedia
A communauté de communes (French for "community of communes") is a federation of municipalities (communes) in France
. It forms a framework within which local tasks are carried out together. It is the least integrated form of intercommunality.
As of January 1, 2007, there are 2,400 communautés de communes in France (2,391 in metropolitan France
and 9 in the overseas départements
), with 26.48 million people living in them. The population (as of 1999 census) of the communautés de communes range from 163,221 inhabitants (Communauté de communes du Grand Parc, gathering Versailles
and neighboring communes) to 168 inhabitants (Communauté de communes de la Vallée du Toulourenc, Vaucluse
département).
Law of 1999.
Unlike the communautés d'agglomération
and the communautés urbaines
, communautés de communes are not subjected to a minimum threshold of population to come into existence. The only constraint is geographical continuity.
According to the Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT) (general law over regional administrative structures), a communauté de communes is a public establishment of inter-communal cooperation (EPCI), formed by several French municipalities, which cover a connected territory without enclave.
In 1999 when the Chevènement Law regulatory modifications
came into force, communautés de communes already in existence that did not meet the criterion of geographical continuity were left untouched.
The communes involved build a space of solidarity with a joint project of development, infrastructure building, etc.
A communauté de communes is administered by a council (conseil communautaire) made up of delegates from the municipal councils of each member commune. The number of seats allocated to each commune reflects the size of the commune. A member commune must have at least one seat on the council, and no individual commune may have more than half of the seats on the conseil communautaire.
The communauté de communes may also choose to exercise its responsibilities in at least one of the following six policy areas:
The communauté de communes may define its own personnel requirements and appoint appropriately qualified employees. In addition, and subject to départemental agreement it may exercise directly powers and responsibilities in certain social policy areas which are more normally handled at the départemental level.
Subject to these requirements, it is for the communes themselves to determine precisely which competences they will delegate to the communauté de communes: they will do this based on their view of the individual commune's best interests. Once powers and responsibilities have been delegated to the communauté de communes, they shall be exercised collectively through the communauté de communes and may no longer be exercised independently by individual member communes.
In 2008 there were 2,393 communautés de communes in France. Of these, roughly 1,000 had been in existence for less than a year. New communautés are currently being created at a more rapid rate than in the early years. Nevertheless, there are still many rural communes that have not joined one of these groupings.
(the largest commune in the communauté de communes follows in parentheses)
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. It forms a framework within which local tasks are carried out together. It is the least integrated form of intercommunality.
As of January 1, 2007, there are 2,400 communautés de communes in France (2,391 in metropolitan France
Metropolitan France
Metropolitan France is the part of France located in Europe. It can also be described as mainland France or as the French mainland and the island of Corsica...
and 9 in the overseas départements
Département d'outre-mer
An overseas department is a department of France that is outside metropolitan France. They have the same political status as metropolitan departments. As integral parts of France and the European Union, overseas departments are represented in the National Assembly, Senate, and Economic and Social...
), with 26.48 million people living in them. The population (as of 1999 census) of the communautés de communes range from 163,221 inhabitants (Communauté de communes du Grand Parc, gathering Versailles
Versailles
Versailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
and neighboring communes) to 168 inhabitants (Communauté de communes de la Vallée du Toulourenc, Vaucluse
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...
département).
Legal status
The communauté de communes was created by a statute of the French Parliament enacted on February 6, 1992. The statute was modified by the ChevènementJean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement is a French politician. He was Minister of Defense from 1988 to 1991 and Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He was a presidential candidate in 2002 and since 2008 has been a member of the Senate....
Law of 1999.
Unlike the communautés d'agglomération
Communauté d'agglomération
An agglomeration community is a metropolitan government structure in France, created by the Chevènement Law of 1999. It is one of three forms of intercommunality, less integrated than an urban community but more integrated than a community of communes...
and the communautés urbaines
Communauté urbaine
In France, urban communities are the most integrated form of intercommunality in France. An urban community is composed of a city and its independent suburbs ....
, communautés de communes are not subjected to a minimum threshold of population to come into existence. The only constraint is geographical continuity.
According to the Code général des collectivités territoriales (CGCT) (general law over regional administrative structures), a communauté de communes is a public establishment of inter-communal cooperation (EPCI), formed by several French municipalities, which cover a connected territory without enclave.
In 1999 when the Chevènement Law regulatory modifications
Jean-Pierre Chevènement
Jean-Pierre Chevènement is a French politician. He was Minister of Defense from 1988 to 1991 and Minister of the Interior from 1997 to 2000. He was a presidential candidate in 2002 and since 2008 has been a member of the Senate....
came into force, communautés de communes already in existence that did not meet the criterion of geographical continuity were left untouched.
The communes involved build a space of solidarity with a joint project of development, infrastructure building, etc.
Constitutional
The communautés de communes are currently funded by a local tax on businesses known as the taxe professionnelle or, more commonly, by the taxe professionnelle unique a modified version of the tax whereby a proportion of the monies levied by the communautés des communes is paid back to the individual communes. The taxe professionnelle is sometimes presented as an unfair burden on the economy or even as a device for exporting jobs outside France, and it has been subject to a series of reforms over the years but central government undertakings to abolish it (and presumably to replace it) have yet to come to fruition. If they do, funding of the communautés de communes will change fundamentally.A communauté de communes is administered by a council (conseil communautaire) made up of delegates from the municipal councils of each member commune. The number of seats allocated to each commune reflects the size of the commune. A member commune must have at least one seat on the council, and no individual commune may have more than half of the seats on the conseil communautaire.
Objectives
Article 5214-16 of the CGCT requires the communauté de communes to exercise its responsibilities in the following policy areas:- promotion of economic development across its entire territory
- management and maintenance of public spaces
The communauté de communes may also choose to exercise its responsibilities in at least one of the following six policy areas:
- environmental protection and enhancement
- housing and 'quality of life' policies
- highway construction, management and maintenance
- construction, maintenance and operation of buildings and other infrastructure for recreational (cultural and sports related) and educational (primary schooling and pre-schooling) purposes
- social actions for the common good
- general improvements (assainissement)
The communauté de communes may define its own personnel requirements and appoint appropriately qualified employees. In addition, and subject to départemental agreement it may exercise directly powers and responsibilities in certain social policy areas which are more normally handled at the départemental level.
Subject to these requirements, it is for the communes themselves to determine precisely which competences they will delegate to the communauté de communes: they will do this based on their view of the individual commune's best interests. Once powers and responsibilities have been delegated to the communauté de communes, they shall be exercised collectively through the communauté de communes and may no longer be exercised independently by individual member communes.
In 2008 there were 2,393 communautés de communes in France. Of these, roughly 1,000 had been in existence for less than a year. New communautés are currently being created at a more rapid rate than in the early years. Nevertheless, there are still many rural communes that have not joined one of these groupings.
Communautés de communes with more than 60,000 inhabitants
(ranked by population as of March 1999 census, in 2007 limits)(the largest commune in the communauté de communes follows in parentheses)
- Communauté de communes du Grand Parc (VersaillesVersaillesVersailles , a city renowned for its château, the Palace of Versailles, was the de facto capital of the kingdom of France for over a century, from 1682 to 1789. It is now a wealthy suburb of Paris and remains an important administrative and judicial centre...
) – 163,221 inhabitants - Communauté de communes de la Boucle de la Seine (SartrouvilleSartrouvilleSartrouville is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. it is located in the north-western suburbs of Paris from the center.-Name:...
) – 159,997 - Communauté de communes du Nord Martinique (Le RobertLe RobertLe Robert is a town and the third-largest commune in the French overseas department of Martinique. It is located in the northeastern side of the island of Martinique. It contains the Sainte Rose-delima church, Club Nautique Wind Force club, Stade Municipal du Robert and a sportsground. The village...
) – 108,470 - Communauté de communes du Sud (Le TamponLe TamponLe Tampon is the fourth-largest commune in the French overseas department of Réunion. It is located on the south-central part of the island of Réunion, adjacent to Saint-Pierre....
) – 102,958 - Communauté de communes du Centre Littoral (CayenneCayenneCayenne is the capital of French Guiana, an overseas region and department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic coast. The city's motto is "Ferit Aurum Industria" which means "Work brings wealth"...
) – 92,059 - Communauté de communes du Parisis (HerblayHerblayHerblay is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.-Transport:Herblay is served by Herblay station on the Transilien Paris – Saint-Lazare suburban rail line.-References:** -External links:...
) – 80,196 - Communauté de communes du Pays Yonnais (La Roche-sur-YonLa Roche-sur-YonLa Roche-sur-Yon is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.It is the capital of the department. Its inhabitants are called Yonnais.-History:...
) – 79,665 - Communauté de communes Drancy - Le Bourget (DrancyDrancyDrancy is a commune in the northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located 10.8 km from the center of Paris.- Toponomy :...
) – 74,373 - Communauté de communes Cœur d’OstreventCommunauté de communes Cœur d’OstreventThe Communauté de communes Cœur d’Ostrevent is a federation of municipalities in the Nord département and in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais région of France.- Composition :...
(SomainSomain, NordSomain is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.-References:*...
) – 71,814 - Communauté de communes de l'agglomération Creilloise (CreilCreilCreil is a large town in northern France. It is designated municipally as a commune within the département of Oise.-History:Archaeological remains in the area include a Neolithic site, as well as a late Iron Age necropolis, perhaps belonging to a Gaulish fortress or protected camp.The city itself...
) – 67,818 - Communauté de communes de Marne et ChantereineCommunauté de communes de Marne et ChantereineThe Communauté de communes de Marne et Chantereine is a federation of municipalities in the Seine-et-Marne département and in the Île-de-France région of France.- Composition :...
(ChellesChelles, Seine-et-MarneChelles is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region from the center of Paris....
) – 67,487 - Communauté de communes de Châtillon - Montrouge (MontrougeMontrougeMontrouge is a commune in the southern Parisian suburbs, located from the center of Paris, France. It is one of the most densely populated municipalities in Europe...
) – 66,355 - Communauté de communes des Deux Rives de la Seine (Verneuil-sur-SeineVerneuil-sur-SeineVerneuil-sur-Seine is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France.-References:*...
) – 62,260 - Communauté de communes de l'Auxerrois (AuxerreAuxerreAuxerre is a commune in the Bourgogne region in north-central France, between Paris and Dijon. It is the capital of the Yonne department.Auxerre's population today is about 45,000...
) – 62,064