A regional council (french: conseil régional) is the elected assembly of a
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
History
Regional councils were created by law on 5 July 1972. Originally they were simply consultative bodies consisting of the region's parliamentary representatives plus an equal number of members nominated by the
departments and
communes
An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, relig ...
.
The decentralisation programme of 1982–1983 under President
François Mitterrand provided for direct election which began in 1986 and increased the powers of the councils.
Operation
The assemblies elect their presidents who preside over the meetings and head the regional executive.
Electoral system
Before 2004
Between 1986 and 2004, regional councils were elected by
closed list proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
. The
Front National was frequently left with the balance of power as a result and this led to a change in the electoral law.
Since 2004
Since 2004 three quarters of the seats continue to be elected by proportional representation with each list having an equal number of male and female candidates. The other quarter are given to the list that received the most votes. In order to gain these top up seats, a list must have gained an absolute majority of the votes in the first round. If this has not been achieved a second round is held with each party that gained at least ten percent of the votes competing. The party that wins a plurality in this round gains the bonus seats. It is common in this round for lower ranking parties to withdraw in favour of parties they have entered into an alliance with.
This can however potentially mean that a list that gained fewer votes in the first round and thus fewer proportional seats can end up the overall winner.
List of councils
Current councils
*
Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
*
Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
The Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (french: Conseil régional de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) is the deliberative assembly of the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Marie-Guite Dufay of the Socialist Party (PS) is the current presid ...
*
Regional Council of Brittany
The Regional Council of Brittany (, ) is the regional legislature of the region of Brittany in France. It is composed of 83 councillors, elected in 2015, in office for six years until 2021.
Seats
By Departments
*17 councillors for Côtes-d' ...
*
Regional Council of Centre-Val de Loire
*
Corsican Assembly
The Corsican Assembly ( co, Assemblea di Corsica; french: L'Assemblée de Corse) is the unicameral legislative body of the territorial collectivity of Corsica. It has its seat at the , in the Corsican capital of Ajaccio. After the 2017 territ ...
*
Regional Council of Grand Est
The Regional Council of Grand Est (french: conseil régional du Grand Est), formerly the regional council of Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine (french: conseil régional d'Alsace-Champagne-Ardenne-Lorraine), is the deliberative assembly of the reg ...
*
Regional Council of Guadeloupe
*
Regional Council of Hauts-de-France
The Regional Council of Hauts-de-France (French language, French: ''Conseil régional des Hauts-de-France'') is the Regional council (France), deliberative assembly of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France.
It was named ...
*
Regional Council of Île-de-France
The Regional Council of Île-de-France () is the regional council of Île-de-France, France's most populous administrative region. Made up of 209 regional councillors elected for 6 years, it is headquartered in Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, just north of ...
*
Regional Council of Normandy
*
Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine
*
Regional Council of Occitania
The Regional Council of Occitania (, ) is the deliberative assembly of the region of Occitania, the southernmost administrative region of metropolitan France excluding Corsica. Carole Delga of Socialist Party is the current president of the regi ...
*
Regional Council of Pays de la Loire The Regional Council of Pays de la Loire is the deliberative assembly of the Regions of France, French region of Pays de la Loire. The regional council is made up of 93 regional councilors elected for a period of six years by direct universal suffra ...
*
Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
*
Regional Council of Réunion
Former councils
The following councils were disbanded after the merger of regions which came in effect since 1 January 2016:
*
Regional Council of Alsace
*
Regional Council of Aquitaine
*
Regional Council of Auvergne
*
Regional Council of Burgundy
*
Regional Council of Champagne-Ardenne
The Regional Council of Champagne-Ardenne was the deliberative assembly of the former region of Champagne-Ardenne incorporated in the Grand Est region on 1 January 2016. It was headquartered in Châlons-en-Champagne, at 5 rue de Jéricho at Hôtel ...
*
Regional Council of Franche-Comté
*
Regional Council of Languedoc-Roussillon
*
Regional Council of Limousin
*
Regional Council of Lorraine
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
*
Regional Council of Midi-Pyrénées
*
Regional Council of Nord-Pas-de-Calais
The Regional Council of Nord-Pas-de-Calais was the deliberative assembly of the former French region Nord-Pas-de-Calais, a decentralized territorial community acting on the regional territory. It sat between 2008 and its disappearance in 2014 at t ...
*
Regional Council of Lower Normandy
*
Regional Council of Upper Normandy
*
Regional Council of Picardy
*
Regional Council of Poitou-Charentes
*
Regional Council of Rhône-Alpes
References
External links
Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes - Conseil RégionalRégion Bourgogne-Franche-Comté - Conseil RégionalRégion Bretagne - Conseil RégionalRégion Centre-Val de Loire - Conseil RégionalCollectivité territoriale de CorseRégion Grand Est - Conseil RégionalRégion Hauts-de-France - Conseil RégionalRégion Île-de-France - Conseil RégionalRégion Normandie - Conseil RégionalRégion Nouvelle-Aquitaine - Conseil RégionalRégion Occitanie - Conseil RégionalRégion Pays de la Loire - Conseil RégionalRégion Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - Conseil RégionalRégion Guadeloupe - Conseil RégionalCollectivité territoriale de GuyaneCollectivité territoriale de Martinique - Conseil RégionalRégion Réunion - Conseil RégionalDépartement de Mayotte
{{Regional Councils (France)
*