The Rhine River

Decentralizing Patrimony

Are Raffarin's plans for decentralization and regionalization of France dumping more competencies on régions and communes than they can handle? Increasingly it looks like the national government is divesting itself of domestic policies and forcing the régions to pick up the slack. The current project turns over the maintenance of historical sites and monuments (en français). The commission Rémond established that the national government should only care for monuments and buildings of national or great historic importance. Regions and communes must assume responsibility for all others. It is not clear that they can handle the load. Some sites bring in profits for localities: it should be easy to administer them. Others, like ancient sites in Brittany, are remote and fragile. It is unclear whether local governments can adequately provide for upkeep and preservation.

On a similar note, officials in Madrid are considering what they will to with the last statue of Franco (auf Deutsch).

posted by Nathanael @ 1:42 PM