Alsatians are set to decide on an administrative reform of their region. Supporters hope for more efficient structures and more influence in Paris and Europe. Opponents warn of "the German model", reports Deutsche Welle.
The mood is good in the auditorium number 324 at the Institute for Political Sciences at Strasbourg University. Some 100 people have gathered to discuss plans to form a new so-called "Alsace Council." At the forefront of the discussion are one supporter and one opponent.
Alsace has seen weeks of election campaign ahead of a vote on Sunday (07.04.2013). The towns in this region in eastern France are covered with posters, campaign commercials are shown on regional television, and all households have been supplied with an information package.
The supporters of the idea said the Alsace Council would simplify political processes and make administration in the region more efficient. Currently, three parliaments and three presidents are responsible for dealing with the matters concerning the Alsatian population, which is made up of some 2 million people. Both departments, the Upper and Lower Rhine, have assemblies, and then there is the regional assembly of Alsace. After the merger there would only be one parliament and one executive for Alsace, France's smallest region in terms of size.
Jacques Fernique, a parliamentarian from the Green Party, is one of the supporters of the project. Sitting on the podium at Strasbourg University, he defends the reform plans that the region's and departments' conservative presidents have launched. He argued that the Alsace Council would, hopefully, end the historically grown chaos of competencies between departments and region. He makes his case by giving the audience an example: The departments, which date back to Napoleonic times, are in charge of social matters. But the region is responsible for anything concerning professional training.
Complicated dual structures also exist in regional public transport, Fernique pointed out. The region is in charge of trains, but the two departments run bus lines. That's why the election campaign is all about streamlining and making cuts, also in the field of politics. The idea is to have about 10 percent fewer seats for parliamentarians in the newly merged assembly. Fernique said he also hopes that the merger will gain Alsace more political weight - in the dialogue with both Paris and France's European partners.
Read more of this report from Deutsche Welle.