Local Government
161
Large Cities
1
Capital Cities
1
Regional or State Governments
21
National Government
0
Other Institutions
13
Local Government
161
Large Cities
1
Capital Cities
1
Regional or State Governments
21
National Government
0
Other Institutions
13
Community
Capital
Paris
Population
67 059 890
Language
French
Currency
Euro
Indexes
Democracy
20
Full Democracy
Democracy
Democracy
20
Full Democracy
Democracy
Corruption Perception
23/180
Medium
Corruption Perception
Corruption Perception
23/180
Medium
Corruption Perception
Human Development
26
Very High
Human Development
Human Development
26
Very High
Human Development
World Happiness
23/153
Very High
World Happiness
World Happiness
23/153
Very High
World Happiness
Global Peace
60
High
Global Peace
Global Peace
60
High
Global Peace
Global Terrorism
36
Medium
Global Terrorism
Global Terrorism
36
Medium
Global Terrorism
Legislação sobre Orçamentos Participativos
There is no national legislation about PB in France. Each city is free to draft its own regulation. A declaration was made at the National PB cities meeting in Paris in November 2019, aiming at regulating French PBs. It provides six general guidelines: conducting this policy regularly, being transparent on the program and the amount of the budget, being opened to all citizens, respecting the vote and aiming at building trust and empowering citizens.
Outstanding Innovations
In order to improve the PB effect on local politics, some cities moved towards climate change PB. For example, Bordeaux (255 000 inhabitants) led its first PB in 2019 and decided that the projects had to match with sustainable development goals and especially environmental ones. This PB was awarded at OIDP’s meeting in Mexico last year. Bordeaux is not the only city to choose this path. 16 cities led environment friendly, eco-responsible, transitional or bike friendly PB in 2019. These cities could have 10 000 inhabitants as Jarny or Marck-en- Calaisis or more than 100 000 as Metz. Environment is very current in the French PBs. In the study I led in partnership with Foundation Jean-Jaurès, I found out that 40% of the voted projects in 2019 were environmentally friendly. In 2020, Seine-Saint-Denis should have been the first Department to get a climate change PB. Unfortunately, it has to be cancelled because of the pandemic.
INITIAL REFERENCE FOR THE ADOPTION OF PB IN THE COUNTRY
At the very beginning, the Porto-Alegre PB has been a reference for the former red belt, especially in Saint-Denis. The former mayor, Patrick Braouezec, explained in an interview he met Olivo Dutra in Istanbul during the UN-Habitat II conference and decided to plan it for the city. However, the Saint-Denis PB seemed to be more consultative than decisive.
Many cities still use the Porto-Alegre experience as a reference in their communication to explain what the PB is but most of the time there is no will for social justice. With one big exception: Paris. The capital decided to pinpoint 30% of its 100 million euros of PB budget for its underprivileged area. Finally, in some processes, there are some similarities with Porto- Alegre, like in Grenoble, Grande-Synthe or Lanester for example which practices a kind of PB’s Forum as it used to happen in Porto-Alegre.
SUBSEQUENT REFERENCE FOR PB DISSEMINATION
There is no official French reference for PB initiatives, however pioneer cities like Paris, Grenoble, Montreuil and Rennes, drafted a scheme that spread for the last 5 years: an annual (or every twoyear organization), a transparent amount, digital participation and an open process for proposals and vote. This pioneer group is now trying to create a French PB network with some newcomers like Angers or Clermont-Ferrand.
Main Trends of PB in the Country During the Pandemic
2020 is also an electoral year. Municipal elections took place initially on the 15th and 22nd of March. Because of the pandemic, the second round was finalized on 28th of June. Because of this election, many PBs were discontinued this year. In cities where it was launched, some of them had to adapt to the circumstances, like Grenoble (160 000 inhabitants) that virtualized its annual forum to introduce the submitted projects to citizens.
After the first round of the municipal election, 30 thousand city councils were elected. They had to wait for the end of the lockdown to get vested. Many of them confirmed the engagement they took during the campaign to set a PB up.
In some departments the PB was discontinued mainly because of the calendar. It should be noted that Departmental elections will stand in March 2021. In this context, communication expenses will have to be restricted six months before the vote. During the pandemic, it was difficult to call and study the projects citizens suggested. Finally, they decide to discontinue the PB.
