It's time to simplify: Hollande wants to abolish French regions

It's time to simplify: Hollande wants to abolish French regions

President Francois Hollande unveiled a plan of consolidation of French regions and reducing their number by one-third, writes ee24.com citing thelocal.fr. This will reduce the number of officials and budget expenditures for the state machinery.

"The time had come to simplify and clarify so that we all know who decides and who pays for what and with what resources," Hollande wrote. Known advocate of high taxes on expensive real estate in France, he launched a new initiative that aims to optimize the work of local authorities. Number of regions in mainland France could be reduced from 22 to 14. New boundaries will be based on the generality of school education, transport infrastructure and regional planning.

The plans of the Head of state are to unite Upper and Lower Normandy, Alsace and Lorraine, as well as to form two new regions from three existing regions - Poitou-Charentes, Centre and Limousin. Nevertheless, opponents of reform argue that is necessary to amalgamate not regions but smaller administrative units: the expenditures  for low-level officials are much more expensive, and the boundaries of municipalities have not changed since XVIII century.