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 ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

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 Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and communes. 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 Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively only vote for political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some in ...

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 The National Rally (french: Rassemblement National, ; RN), until 2018 known as the National Front (french: link=no, Front National, ; FN), is a far-rightAbridged list of reliable sources that refer to National Rally as far-right: Academic: * ...

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 The Regional Council of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (french: Conseil régional d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) is the deliberative assembly of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeast-central France. Laurent Wauquiez of The Republicans (LR) has presided ...

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 *

Regional Council of Centre-Val de Loire The Regional Council of Centre-Val de Loire (French: ''conseil régional du Centre-Val de Loire'') is a deliberative assembly composed of 77 councillors, elected to six-year terms. As a whole, the body represents the region 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 *

Regional Council of Guadeloupe The Regional Council of Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label= Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, ...

* Regional Council of Hauts-de-France * Regional Council of Île-de-France *

Regional Council of Normandy The Regional Council of Normandy () is the executive body for the French Region of Normandy since its creation on January 1, 2016.

Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine The Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the deliberative assembly of the Regions of France, French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The regional council is made up of 183 regional councilors elected for 6 years and is chaired by Alain Rousset. ...

* Regional Council of Occitania * Regional Council of Pays de la Loire *

Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur The Regional Council of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur ( French: ''Conseil régional de Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur'') is the deliberative assembly of the French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. The regional council is made up of 123 regional ...

Regional Council of Réunion The Regional Council of Réunion consists of 45 members. Organization and composition Regional assembly Presidency Since 2 July 2021, the President of the Regional Council of Réunion has been Huguette Bello Huguette Bello (born 24 A ...

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 The Aquitaine Regional Council was the Conseil régional of Aquitaine ( France). It included 85 members. It was replaced by the Regional Council of Nouvelle-Aquitaine in 2016. Seats By Department *36 councillors for Gironde *17 councillors f ...

Regional Council of Auvergne The Regional Council of Auvergne (, ) was the deliberative assembly of the former French region of Auvergne. The assembly sat in Clermont-Ferrand. The regional council was made up of 47 regional councilors elected from its departments, distribu ...

Regional Council of Burgundy The Regional Council of Burgundy (, ) was the deliberative assembly administering the Burgundy region until its merger in December 2015. The term can also, in a more restricted sense, designate the elected assembly which defined the policy of th ...

* Regional Council of Champagne-Ardenne *

Regional Council of Franche-Comté The Regional Council of Franche-Comté was the regional council of Franche-Comté ( France). It was chaired by Marie-Marguerite Dufay until its merger to form the Regional Council of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Seats By department *19 councill ...

Regional Council of Languedoc-Roussillon The Regional council of Languedoc-Roussillon was the deliberative assembly of the former French region of Languedoc-Roussillon, local authority decentralized acting on the regional territory. It was headquartered in Montpellier, in a ''Hôtel'' bu ...

Regional Council of Limousin 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 ...

* Regional Council of Lorraine * Regional Council of Midi-Pyrénées * Regional Council of Nord-Pas-de-Calais *

Regional Council of Lower Normandy 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 Upper Normandy 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 Picardy The Regional Council of Picardy (, ) was the deliberative assembly of the former French region of Picardy, a decentralized territorial community. Its headquarters were in Amiens and it was headed last by Claude Gewerc Claude Gewerc (; born 2 ...

* Regional Council of Poitou-Charentes * Regional Council of Rhône-Alpes

References

External links