Les chambres régionales des comptes

DIMENSIONS CONSTITUTIVE OF TERRITORIAL PUBLIC MANAGEMENT

To take again the grid of analysis enacted by Kiser and Ostrom, in « The three world off action »^15(*), which are the rules of constitutionalization by which the rules are structured of choice and which determines the conditions of possibility of the action of the actors?

[1) The national definition of competences

Which are thus the texts establishing the groundwork of the new system of action ?

The law of March 2, 1982, those of January 7 and July 22 1983 specified the fundamental principles of the distribution of competences according to which the transfers must be done in block as far as possible ; assertion of the principle of equality enters the local communities, transfers of average correlatives to the transfers of competences.

The capacities to produce or interpret the decentralizing possibilities concern mixed one of law and payment. Article 72 specifies that « the communities are managed under the conditions envisaged by the law » and the legislator or the policy has also faculty to draw within article 34, which prescribes the electoral mode of the local communities and their mode of organization, like on the jurisprudence of the Council of State.

[2) The local distribution of competences

Thus, communes, departments and areas « concourrent with the State with the administration and the regional planning, the development economic, social, medical, cultural and scientific, like with the environmental protection and the improvement of the framework of life » (Art L. 1111-2 of the CGCT) and the article L. 1111-4 to specify : « The distribution of competences between the local authorities and the State is carried out, as far as possible, by distinguishing those which are put at the load of the State and those which deal for the communes, the departments or the areas so that each field of competences as well as the corresponding resources are affected entirely either in the State, or with the communes, or at the departments, or with the areas »

The methods of the transfer allocate to the area responsibilities, mainly as regards regional planning, of economic development and regional planning ; of protection of the inheritance and sites ; of vocational training and training ; colleges or habitat and social housing. Since 1986, the Area ensures thus construction, the equipment, the expenditure of maintenance and operation of the colleges and the establishments of special education. What accounted for 42% of the whole of the expenditure of investments of the Areas in 1990, without speaking about the plan Université 2.000.

The department recovers the right to establish a plan of assistance to the rural equipment ; to be qualified for the whole of the legal services as regards social assistance ; to deal with school transport or to deal of tourism and cultural action. 80% of the departmental expenditure are concentrated on three sectors : the roadway system, the medical and social action. For example, the department finances the RMI, to a total value of 20% of the expenditure engaged by the State the previous year.

As for the commune^16(*), it deals amongst other things with the plan of occupation of the grounds ; a right of glance has on the architectural and urban heritage ; it can also deal with the social housing. The investments are often concentrated in operational town planning, the such rehabilitation of old districts or the creation of housing.

The department benefits here principal of the various laws of decentralization, since it receives competences as regards medical and social action, of housing, of rural equipment and of state education, whereas the area has a role more limited- its competences relate mainly to the regional planning but also strategic, bus, from its position within the French system (common, department, area, center, Europe), it exploits a central part of evaluation and reflection the future of the territory of which it holds the close vision. Moreover, in Europe which seems to want to make Area the pivot of the economic and social development, this unit seems positioned well to face the future expiries^17(*).

* ¹⁵ L. Kiser and E. Ostrom, «  The three world off actions. With metatheorical synthesis off institutional approaches ", E. Ostrom (ED.), Strategics off Political Inquiry, London, 1982.

* ¹⁶ See on these different point  : O. Gohin, administrative Institutions, LGDJ, 1998.  ; P. Bodineau and Mr. Verpeau,  History of decentralization, coll «  I That-know  ?  », PUF, 1997  ; J.B. Auby and J.F. Auby, Right of the local communities, PUF, coll THEMIS, right Public, 1998.

* ¹⁷ At the European level, the area is prosperous and highly respected and is formally consulted before each decision being able to relate to it. A European charter of local autonomy exists and it was ratified by about thirty members of the Council of Europe.