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The finances of the ‘municipal sector’ (communes, intercommunalities, the metropolises), which account for nearly 60% of total local finances, have grown faster than GDP, without new competences having been transferred from the state. This situation is no longer tenable. If public services are to maintain their levels of investment and performance, substantial savings will need to be made. These will only come about through an extensive reorganisation, in which intercommunalities and the metropolises will be strengthened with a view to achieving quantifiable rationalisation.