Editing Regions of France (section)

== Role ==
Regions lack separate legislative authority and therefore cannot write their own statutory law. They levy their own taxes and, in return, receive a decreasing{{clarify|date=October 2022}} part of their budget from the central government, which gives them a portion of the taxes it levies. They also have considerable budgets managed by a [[Regional councils of France|regional council]] ''(conseil régional)'' made up of representatives voted into office in regional elections.

A region's primary responsibility is to build and furnish high schools. In March 2004, the French central government unveiled a controversial plan to transfer regulation of certain categories of non-teaching school staff to the regional authorities. Critics of this plan contended that tax revenue was insufficient to pay for the resulting costs, and that such measures would increase regional inequalities.

In addition, regions have considerable discretionary power over infrastructural spending, e.g., education, public transit, universities and research, and assistance to business owners. This has meant that the heads of wealthy regions such as [[Île-de-France]] or [[Rhône-Alpes]] can be high-profile positions.

Proposals to give regions limited legislative autonomy have met with considerable resistance; others propose transferring certain powers from the departments to their respective regions, leaving the former with limited authority.

=== Regional control ===
Number of regions controlled by each coalition since [[1986 French regional elections|1986]].

{|class="wikitable centre" style="text-align:center"
! rowspan="2"| Elections
! colspan="3"| Presidencies
! rowspan="2"| Map
|-
|{{legend|red|Left}}
|{{legend|#007FCC|Right}}
|{{legend|orange|Other}}
|-
|[[1986 French regional elections|1986]]
|5
|'''21'''
| –
| [[File:French regional elections 1986.svg|100px]]
|-
|[[1992 French regional elections|1992]]
|4
|'''21'''
|1
| [[File:French regional elections 1992.svg|100px]]
|-
|[[1998 French regional elections|1998]]
|10
|'''15'''
|1
| [[File:French regional elections 1998.svg|100px]]
|-
|[[2004 French regional elections|2004]]
|'''23'''
|2
|1
| [[File:French regional elections 2004.svg|100px]]
|-
|[[2010 French regional elections|2010]]
|'''23'''
|3
| –
| [[File:French regional elections 2010.svg|100px]]
|-
|[[2015 French regional elections|2015]]
| 7
| '''8'''
| 2
| [[File:French regional elections 2015 2nd Round.svg|100px]]
|-
|[[2021 French regional elections|2021]]
| 6
| '''8'''
| 4
| [[File:French regional elections 2021.svg|100px]]
|}