Laurent Wauquiez, head of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, announced the reduction of all regional subsidies to the city of Grenoble after the city of Grenoble approved the port of Burkina Faso. Questionable results.
He promised, he did. Faced with the “separatism” represented by Burkina Faso’s recognition of Grenoble swimming pools, Laurent Wauquiez announced on Twitter that he would “immediately suspend the Grenoble Town Hall subsidy.”
By recognizing the wearing of burgundy in municipal swimming pools, Eric Biol is firmly enforcing his distinction between secularism and the values of our Republic. In the face of this separatism, as I promised, the region immediately stopped all subsidies for the town hall in Grenoble.
– Laurent Wauquiez May 16, 2022
Does a regional president have the right to make such a drastic decision? “Yes, but not alone, he must have the support of a majority in the regional legislature,” responds CNEWS Patrick Le Lidec, a researcher at Science Po and an expert on local authorities.
In the press release issued Leon Mac, Laurent Wauquiez justifies his decision and explains his reliance on the “Charter for the Preservation of the Values of France and Secularism”. A vote by the regional assembly of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes last March made it possible to “suspend aid from the region to structures that do not respect our republican values.”
Grants are distributed free of charge by the region
According to Patrick Le Lidec, “the region may distribute or reduce subsidies to any local authority or association”. “There are measures that cannot be subsidized to the region, but there is no impediment to the removal of previously granted subsidies,” he adds.
“However, before grants can be withdrawn, the region must respect a four-month grace period,” notes Benjamin Morale, CNEWS public law lecturer at the University of Panthéon-Assas Paris II.
If this deadline is respected, Grenoble City Hall will theoretically not have the opportunity to appeal.
General practice?
According to Patrick Le Lidec the method used by Laurent Wauquiez is actually quite common, although not advertised.
“It is common for some communities (sector, region) to favor certain parts of the territory to the detriment of others, but if you do not look at the accounts, it is difficult to know,” the researcher underlined.
And plenty of examples. Jacques Blanc, president of the Languedoc-Roussillon region between 1986 and 2004, did not pay a single franc to Montpellier, but heavily subsidized his elected Lozère. It is perfectly legal when followed by the majority of it.
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