# Science Fun: The Merger of Regions
Welcome to La science s’aMuse, the science program co-produced by UM and Divergence-FM, which takes you on a cruise through the Muse laboratory archipelago. On the eve of regional elections, and six years after the merger of the regions, CEPEL political scientist Emmanuel Négrier helps us take stock of this reform.
Land ho! Today we are dropping anchor in our territories, and more specifically in our regions. On January 1, 2016, France woke up with not 22 regions but 13, following the entry into force of the law on the delimitation of regions. This law was announced as one of the cornerstones of Act III of the decentralization process desired by François Hollande, which, as you may recall, did not come about without some pain. From Alsace, fearful of coming under the yoke of Nancy, to Nantes, asserting its historical ties with Brittany, to the isolated Centre region, the French map suddenly turned into a Chinese puzzle.
Six years later, on the eve of regional elections—the first since this reform was implemented—has it achieved its objectives? And what were those objectives, anyway? How has this geographical redistribution impacted regional powers, which were already shaken up by theNOTRe law, another key aspect of decentralization? We discuss this today with our guest, Emmanuel Négrier. He is a political scientist atCepel, the political science laboratory at the University of Montpellier. Together with Vincent Simoulin, a sociologist in Toulouse (well, well), he co-edited a collective work entitled La fusion des régions : le laboratoire d'Occitanie (The merger of regions: the Occitanie laboratory).
For more information:
- The Conversation:Regional mergers: new bottle, same wine?
- Collective work:La fusion des régions(The Merger of Regions), E. Négrier, V. Simoulin, PUG Publishing
Science is fun, you've got the ticket, let's go!
Production: University of Montpellier/ Divergence-FM
Host: Lucie Lecherbonnier
Interview: Aline Périault/ Lucie Lecherbonnier
Director: Bruno Bertrand
Listen to the program “A LUM LA SCIENCE” on Divergence FM 93.9
