Réformer sous contrainte d'injonctions contradictoires: l'Exemple du comité balladur sur la réforme des collectivités locales

Abstract

The Local Authorities Reform Committee, which was created in November 2008 and chaired by former Prime Minister Édouard Balladur, submitted its report in March 2009. This article examines the reasons for having an ad hoc committee do this work, emphasises the scale of obstacles hampering reformers and questions their strategy for change. It highlights the pressures affecting the work of reformers, who are tempted to introduce radical changes due to associated budget issues but face major constitutional and political obstacles. It sets out a number of hypotheses regarding the varying parliamentary feasibility ofthe different solutions proposed by the Committee.