Alsace at the Forefront

The “Conseil d’Alsace”

In late November, parliamentarians of the two Rhine-region French departments (67, Bas-Rhin, and 68, Haut-Rhin) passed a resolution establishing a new “Conseil d’Alsace” (Alsace Council). The gist of this complicated administrative procedure consists of combining the two departments’ respective “Conseils Generaux” (General Councils) with the “Conseil Regional d’Alsace” (the Regional Council of Alsace),[1] to create a supervisory administrative body, to consolidate the previously scattered responsibilities, thereby, closer conflating the two departments. The new administrative unit is officially known as the “Collectivité territoriale d’Alsace,” but it is often simply referred to as the “Conseil d’Alsace” (Alsace Council). Its parliamentary assembly will be situated in Strasbourg, while the related “Executive Council” (similar to a regional government) is to be seated in Colmar. According to plans, individual “specialized administrations” will be headquartered in Mulhouse. This project, scheduled to be implemented by 2015, must now be adopted by the region’s inhabitants in a referendum, planned for April 7, 2013.[2] It is expected to pass with a large majority. In parliament, the vote on the project had resulted in a majority of 108 in favor, to five against and nine abstentions.