The elections of the Chambers of commerce are also upset

The Assembly of French Chambers of commerce and industry, the Acfci, did not hesitate yesterday to upset the difficult reform of the consular network committed five years ago. His Office has recorded a new reform, which should enable it to achieve the same objectives of efficiency, much faster than expected, voted once the necessary legislation. A true Flash operation since outline of the project not exposed until the night before about 100 Presidents of Chambers on 140, met in Paris to a briefing on the reform of the State and which were accepted unanimously.

In practice, while the previous reform was to pool the means of the boards of "land" at the regional level, it will be regional organizations that will have the upper hand on the consular landscape. They gather the technical and financial means and spread, the needs to the local Chambers whose number will continue to decrease to reach term one by Department. The establishment of a legal budget and a single tax by region market the disparities that currently exist from one organism to another. The elections of the Chambers of commerce are also upset. They should be guided by the PLM of 1982 decentralisation Act provisions to allow the election the same day of the members of the regional and territorial chambers.

Clarify the situation

"We thought that the current reform was not fast enough or far enough", says Jean-François Bernardin, Chairman of the Acfci. "In particular, we have very difficult to make regional because our rooms, for historical reasons, are designed to be autonomous." The operation of the States General, a dozen of regional or interregional meetings, which was created to define the needs of the business by 2020 will in this sense. "This movement is telescope with the general public policies (RGPP) journal and the global crisis", admits Jean-François Bernardin in referring to "complex a face-to-face with the Government", because of the multiplicity of ministries and administrations concerned. To add, to experience, difficulty financing the regional chambers, the current system paradoxically penalizing the rooms having adopted the lowest tax rates. Especially, the Chambers of commerce wanted to anticipate the possible economic consequences of the financial crisis.

"Of course, many of us were reluctant and this scenario calls legitimately many Presidents, large and small, attached to their independence but we exceeded these difficulties," says Jean-François Bernardin. But, also issues of people, this reform which the Government could give its approval implies raise a multitude of technical and regulatory difficulties. Harmonisation of taxation within a region, in particular, will be not simple since it will mean not in all cases by a decline. In addition the question of the distribution of the revenue of the port and Airport concessions will be certainly difficult, like that of the management of the workforce. "We want to ask the State a number of things to clarify our situation," warns the pattern of the ICC. "We want to make this reform only if, indeed, the State relies on us and we treat as a privileged interlocutor." Clear that actually listening to the Chambers of commerce. The site looks long and difficult and could justify the postponement of one year of the consular elections planned in 2010.