François Hollande hosted the mayors of major cities this Tuesday. On the agenda: To see how urban areas can contribute to the “economic recovery of France.” 25 mayors or presidents of agglomerations from all political backgrounds were invited to this working meeting. However, the contract that seems to emerge from it does not garner full support from opposition mayors.
Christian ESTROSI, Deputy Mayor of Nice and President of the Nice Côte d’Azur Metropolis, Alain Juppé, Mayor of Bordeaux, Jean-Claude GAUDIN, Senator Mayor of Marseille, and André ROSSINOT, Mayor of Nancy and President of the Greater Nancy Urban Community, express their mistrust in the following statement:
“We share the general spirit of the State-Urban Territories joint declaration which includes 13 commitments for the economic vitality and social cohesion of large cities and agglomerations.
Like all mayors and presidents of inter-municipal structures, we are all very committed to economic development, solidarity, housing policy, or sustainable development and we are determined to continue investing in these areas and to support local employment and therefore the employment of our country.
However, it is impossible for us to sign this declaration as it stands, without further clarifications, particularly on commitment number 13, concerning the financial pact of trust and responsibility between the State and local authorities.
Indeed, we are compelled to observe that the measures currently taken by the Government, notably those contained in the draft budget law for 2013, are in complete contradiction with the objective of Title III of the declaration, which is to preserve our investment capacities.
The defiscalization of overtime and the increase in contribution rates for local government employees’ pensions, the announcement of freezing allocations to local authorities, and the rise of the inter-municipal equalization fund, as well as changes in school rhythms and schooling from the age of 2 leading to new expenses, will naturally have heavy consequences on the budget of our local authorities. The increase in these expenditure items, imposed by government decisions in our operating budgets, will naturally result in reducing our investment margins.
We therefore call on the State to clarify the draft law on decentralization reform strengthening urban reality and metropolization, and to reinforce the balance of the pact it proposes to us by making firm commitments on State support to local authorities to enable us to continue investing for our citizens.”
The position of Christian Estrosi has naturally attracted the sharpest criticism from Patrick Allemand, his main opponent within the Nice City Council.
Pact of Trust: A Missed Opportunity for Nice
Patrick Allemand regrets that four elected officials – Alain Juppé, Jean-Claude Gaudin, André Rossinot, and Christian Estrosi – refused to sign the pact of trust and responsibility between the State and the local authorities proposed by the Head of State, as the Presidents of Regional Councils did on October 15th.
At a time when the crisis demands a fair effort from everyone, denouncing the freezing of funds initiated by the Sarkozy government, from which we cannot currently escape due to the 630 billion euros deficit dug by the Fillon government, is particularly ironic.
Similarly, using the excuse of the defiscalization of overtime and increased contribution rates for local government employees’ pensions to refuse to sign this trust pact demonstrates a political attitude that is not up to the current challenges.
