Ten regional presidents vehemently oppose the return of an Alsace region

At the beginning of the week, the National Assembly will examine a bill from the Macronist group Ensemble pour la République aimed at recreating an Alsace region, ten years after the major territorial merger that came into effect in 2016. The text brings back to the table an idea that seems simple, giving Alsace a "single collectivity"... but which, according to its opponents, would amount to taking it out of the Grand Est, built with Lorraine and Champagne-Ardenne.

In an opinion piece published this Sunday, April 5, ten regional presidents are therefore calling on members of parliament to reject what they describe as an "institutional, political and historical mistake", a signal which they consider as dangerous as it is symbolic.

Grand Est, ten years later, the old debate returns through the door of the Assembly

Their target is both the timing and the method. The signatories denounce a "purely clientelist" operation and assert that the country expects answers on purchasing power, employment, health, and transportation rather than a return to squabbles over regional boundaries.

They also point to the shadow of the far right, accused of pushing for the dismantling of the regions, and criticize a funding model that would rely on the creation of a tax, a difficult proposition to justify when promised savings. Alongside Franck Leroy (Grand Est) and Carole Delga (Occitanie, president of Regions of France), are Xavier Bertrand, Valérie Pécresse, Alain Rousset, and Renaud Muselier, all demanding that the government "put an end to this charade"... at the risk of seeing the 2016 territorial reform further falter.