The Dordogne is about to disappear

ARE departments in France about to be consigned to history? Probably. According to a recent article in the French daily, Le Figaro, no more will you go to Bergerac in the Dordogne on your summer holidays. Gone are the visits to your second home in Villereal in the Lot-et-Garonne. In the future, you'll smply travel to Eymet in Aquitaine.

Some government policy makers believe that departments no longer have a place in Mr. Sarkozy's reform plans on the "liberation of growth" for the stagnant French economy.

Most public figures believe that departments are cumbersome and wasteful.

The, so called, Attali report calls for departments to be phased out in favour of a regional structure thus removing a complete tier in the administrative hierarchy.

Created in 1790, the departments are traditionally responsible for health and social welfare. 

Since 1982, their responsibility has increased and expanded to include the construcion and maintenance of schools and colleges.

In 2004, the departments added the maintenance and contruction of the entire 17,000km of the national road network to their management portfolio.

They are also responsible for the supply of technical and maintenance staff to schools.

Supporters for the abolition of the departments in France are of the opinion that a highly stacked administrative structure gives rise to incompetence, overcomplexity and is a waste of public funds.

There are 26 regions, 100 departments, 36,000 communes (mairies) and 18,000 intercommune groups in France.

The Government believes that removing a tier will make France more agile as an economy and that the removal of the departments will reduce the red tape.

Some 40% of the working population in France are civil servants.

The new regional structure is also said to be more in line with the vision that the political elite have for Europe as a whole and with France about to take over the Presidency of the EU will want to be seen as a keen advocate of a flatter, more nimble structure.

Of course, the reforms are expected to come up against stiff resistance from the man in the street.

The department, in general, is well regarded in peoples' eyes because they have their finger on the local pulse and provide efficient fire and rescue services, for example.

People fear is that loss of autonomy and a centralised administration will render local services such as these ineffective and put a greater financial burden on the state.