Buying And Selling In France – Meet The Maire

November 2, 2007

For administrative purposes, France is divided into 26 regions comprising 95 départements, with a préfet in charge of each one. The préfet works in the préfecture and has a supporting network of sou-préfectures scattered throughout the department.

Each département is sub-divided into communes that can vary in size from Paris with 2 million inhabitants down to a humble village sheltering only a couple of dozen souls. There are 36,851 communes in France and each one is administered by a maire who works in la mairie, assisted by his/her premier adjoint, and a conseil who meet regularly to decide policy.

Maires are elected by the inhabitants of their commune (all EU citizens resident in France are eligible to vote in these elections) and basically act as low-paid civil servants for the French government.

Their duties include organising elections and sending the results to the government, keeping birth, marriage and death registers, managing social programmes, contracting for local drinking water, granting building permission, protecting the environment, organising local childcare, school buildings, accommodation for primary teachers, the running of cemeteries, footpaths, and general maintenance, including street lights, pavements, playgrounds and parks. They are also in charge of public safety, providing facilities for travelling communities, and maintaining lists of conscription-age people in their communes.

They also act as news agencies, informing the local population of new by-laws, (bonfire restrictions, public health measures, etc) and more domestic items such as forthcoming street-parties and concerts. Maires often find themselves arbitrating in land disputes, or disagreements between neighbours over hedges and late night noise levels.

La mairie would be your first stop were you to discover the long-forgotten bones of a horse on your land and you wanted them removed. They would also be the first port of call for a grant to pay for a school trip, or for permission to knock a hole in your kitchen wall to make a new window.

Maires have the power to make by-laws about stray dogs, and can rule on what colours people may use when painting their houses, their shutters, their front doors… even their gates. This is especially true in areas near national parks or heritage sites, where you may find your choice restricted to brown, brown or brown.

Mairies also deal with rubbish collection, recycling and the collection of large unwanted items. This is often organised with other local mairies, but each one sets their own local taxes for rubbish disposal (taxe d’ordures) and mains water supplies (facture de l’eau).

In small villages, when it comes to petty nuisance, ie children playing postman’s knock, chasing your cats, or trashing your garden, if you ask the maire to intervene he or she will often have an extremely effective word with the parents – even if you don’t know who the kids are, probably the maire will!

In the case of anonymous nuisance like graffiti and petty vandalism, maires have even been known to indulge in personal skulking to catch the offenders red-handed and deliver them to the local cop-shop for a strong chin-wagging and possibly even a lengthy wait in a police cell as the parents take their time coming to the rescue.

On the other hand, (and again we’re talking smaller communes here) the local maire, if he or she wants to, can pull strings to get you a job, or get your child into the school or university of your choice. If you’re job hunting you can also ask for a character reference (your estate agent may also be willing to vouch for you).

Maires can be elected and re-elected for donkey’s years, and people like secretaries and adjoints tend to be permanent fixtures too, which is one of the main reasons why it is an excellent idea to be on good terms with the people in your local mairie. If they like you, life will be easy. If they don’t, life will be hard.

More than that, there is no reason not to take an active interest as UK citizens resident in France are not only entitled to vote in local elections, but can hold office. (They can also vote in European elections – register for both electoral lists at… your local mairie.)

On a more romantic note, you can have a church blessing in France, but you can’t get married in church. You have to tie the knot in a mairie. So you’ll need to check the maire’s diary before you name the day.

On the fun side, local mairies also organise leisure and recreation: the Paris plage (a beach by the River Seine which is installed for six weeks during the summer) is the brainchild of the maire of Paris. Smaller mairies organise communal meals, dances and drinks to celebrate occasions like Bastille Day (14 July). They also administer local associations, some of them even giving out grants for choirs, sports clubs, etc.

FACT FILE
• Look up the website and email address of your local mairie on www.annuairemairie.com. This also has links to a vast range of other sites connected with French administration

• For more about the French civil service, visit www.service-public.fr/etranger/english.html. This website contains a large section in English

• The Association of French Mayors has 35,000 members, and the site has a small section in English. See www.amf.asso.fr

STEP BY STEP GUIDE

• When deciding to buy a property in a small rural commune, go to the Mairie and introduce yourself (shake hands formally, intersperse each comment with ‘Monsieur le Maire’, or ‘Madame’). In larger rural ones, drop by and introduce yourself to the secretary.  If you’re buying in Paris however, this step probably won’t get you anywhere!

• If you do buy, and again, we’re talking about smaller communes here, invite the Maire (along with the adjoints and the secretary) to come and have a celebration apéro.

• Be polite. French bureaucracy is insanely clumsy and drives everyone to distraction sooner or later. But do not crack under the strain. An overheated rant about efficiency will earn you the cold shoulder. A jar of home-made marmalade to thank the secretary for dealing with such troublesome papers will get you everywhere! 

• In small communes, send Christmas cards. In all but the largest, leave your contact details when you go away for more than a few weeks or so.  In any commune, shake hands with the Maire every time you meet him/her.

Disclaimer
This dossier article is intended as a general guide only.  For specific information relative to your own situation, please use the contact details in the factfile.  The information given here was correct at the time of publication.  However, if you notice a gremlin causing typos or any other inaccuracies, do please let us know.

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