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Source: AATF
AATF publishes its annual barometer of the view of the French on local public service, in partnership with IPSOS
Produced for the 4th consecutive year, the barometer confirms the confidence of the French in the local public service and local officials. It is taking particular interest this year, as it comes both after the municipal elections and in the midst of an unprecedented economic and social health crisis.While the French are wondering more than ever about the meaning of public action, the shock of Covid-19 has reinforced the confidence they show in local authorities, local elected officials and regional officials. In fact, 79% of them express their satisfaction with the services provided by local authorities, and 66% consider that after hospitals, local authorities are the public services which have been able to react best to the crisis. .
On the other hand, the crisis accelerated the rupture between the French and the state. Only 21% of French people consider that the prefectures have been effective in the face of the crisis, and for 84% of them, the State can no longer exercise alone the sovereign powers of education, police and health.In addition, according to our fellow citizens, the response to the crisis requires an intensification of public action, an accentuation of the ecological transition, and must be based on an increased role for local communities. By supporting, on the one hand, the exceptional taxation of companies which grew rich during the crisis for the benefit of the affected sectors (68%) and, on the other hand, the entry of local authorities into the capital of companies in difficulty with counterparts in terms of employment and relocation (66%), which are 2 proposals made by the AATF, our fellow citizens show that they believe in solutions which require more public intervention and not its elimination.
By supporting the energy renovation of buildings (74%), the development of short circuits between producers and consumers (86%), the development of cycle paths (66%), the implementation of a large eco-compatible digital plan ( 71%), the French indicate their choice for a way out of the crisis focused on sustainable development. By calling for new transfers of skills in favor of local authorities in the areas of transport (60%), housing (57%), employment (50%), the French are expressing their desire that local authorities be placed at the heart of of the relaunch process.------------------------------------------------------------
If the AATF is delighted that the action of local authorities, in times of crisis as in milder times, meets the support of the French, it cannot be satisfied with the mistrust that has developed between our fellow citizens and the State. The AATF therefore calls for the implementation of two major reforms that it has long supported. On the one hand, the 4D law, prepared by Minister Jacqueline Gourault, should give more leeway and freedoms to local communities but also strengthen the organization of the state in the territory around the prefect. The prefect and local elected representatives are the real driving force behind public action. On the other hand, the reform of the senior civil service, of which Minister Amélie de Montchalin has confirmed the principle, should allow the State to have senior executives with more operational profiles, less oriented towards the production of standards than the reactive action. We are mobilized for these fundamental texts to succeed. Source: AATF
