Collectivités

Collectivités, in French public administration, designates territorial units that have their own elected assemblies and, within the framework of law, a measure of autonomy from the central state. They are collectively referred to as the collectivités territoriales and are the main level of local governance in France. Each collectivity exercises specific powers and manages public policies in areas such as urban planning, transport, housing, social services and local economic development, while the state retains authority in areas like national defense, justice and foreign policy. The central government is represented locally by prefects or sub-prefects.

In metropolitan France, the principal types of collectivités territoriales are communes, departments and regions, each with its own deliberative body (municipal council, departmental council, regional council) and an executive (mayor or president). These bodies are elected by residents and supervise local public services, budgets and regulations. France also organizes a system of financing and state transfer mechanisms to support local competencies, balancing local initiative with national standards.

Overseas, there exist collectives with varied statuses, including overseas departments (DOM), overseas collectivities (COM) and sui generis entities with special statutes. Examples include Corsica (Collectivité de Corse) and French Polynesia, as well as New Caledonia and other overseas territories. The specific powers and institutions of overseas collectivities differ from those in metropolitan areas, reflecting historical and geographic particularities.

The framework is grounded in the French Constitution (notably Article 72) and shaped by decentralization laws from the 1980s onward, which expanded local autonomy and clarified the distribution of competences between local authorities and the national government. See also: territorial administration of France, collectivité territoriale, collectivité d'outre-mer, Code général des collectivités territoriales.