Prefecture

In France, a préfecture is the capital city of a département. By extension, it is also the name of one of the governing bodies of the département, and of the building housing this government body.

Role

There are 100 préfectures in France. The civil servant in charge is the préfet. The préfecture is an administration that belongs to the Interior ministry, and is therefore in charge of the delivery of the identity card, driving licenses, passports, residence and work permits for foreigners, car registration, registration of the associations (creation, status modification, dissolution), and of the management of the police and of the firefighters.

Related Topics:
Préfet - Interior ministry - Association - Police - Firefighters

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The prefect represents the national government locally and as such exerces locally the powers that are constitutionally or legally exerced by the national government.

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The préfet can make arrêtés, which are legal texts written for the application of the law, e.g. to close a building that does not conform to the safety rules, or to modify vehicular traffic regulations (speed limit, authorisation for construction).

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The governing body of the département is the Conseil Général, which is in charge of the building and maintenance of schools and roads, the financial assistance to dependent people (disabled and elderly), promotion of the economical local development etc. In the past, the prefect would head the executive of the département; since 1982, the president of the conseil général heads the executive.

Related Topics:
Conseil Général - 1982

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