Financially suffocated by the fall in their income linked to the real estate market and by the explosion of their social spending, the departments expressed their anger on Wednesday through the voice of François Sauvadet (UDI), which has some sixty departments in great difficulty.
“This morning you have before you a president of the departments of France who is angry,” the elected representative of Côte-d’Or immediately asked, two weeks before the National Conference of the departments in Albi. “In three years, the State (…) imposed six billion euros of additional spending on us and at the same time we lost 8.5 billion euros of resources,” he explained during a press conference.
According to him, the result is clear, since the number of departments in difficulty has increased, in two years, “from fourteen to about sixty.” Today, all types of departments, rural or not, are affected, according to François Sauvadet, citing both the Aisne and the Gironde and the Hauts-de-Seine.
In Gironde, a deficit of 97 million euros
The emblematic example of Gironde, the sixth most populous department in France, which presented an operating budget in mid-October with a deficit of 97 million euros, especially affects elected officials. This deficit immediately triggered a state support procedure, in which communities could not present an unbalanced budget according to a “golden rule.”
The concrete consequences of the situation of the departments are already being felt on the ground, between a drastic drop in investments in roads and schools, difficulties in financing fire and rescue services, reduction of subsidies and aid to municipalities and non-replacement of personnel.
Already in June 2025, the Court of Auditors drew up a particularly alarming inventory. The control body counted no less than 35 departments that had financial difficulties. Which, depending on the case, varies from “very deteriorated” to “presents a financial risk.” In addition to the departments mentioned by François Sauvadet, there are Hérault, Loire-Atlantique, Ille-et-Vilaine and Haute-Garonne.
70% social spending
The draft budget for 2026 should not improve the situation, according to the department’s elected officials, despite the addition of a safeguard fund of 300 million euros provided for in the government text.
According to the Départements de France, the social spending of the departments currently represents 70% of their spending, compared to 54% ten years ago, driven in particular by the protection of children, but also by disability and aging. However, the association estimates the contribution requested from the departments for 2026 at 575 million euros.
“The State asks us to participate in the recovery of the public accounts of the expenses it imposes on us, it is completely incredible,” emphasizes François Sauvadet, who says he feels a “feeling of abandonment.”
The association asks the State to guarantee the financing of any new expenses and requests a fund of 600 million euros to save the departments in difficulty.
Source: BFM TV
