Section 1: Creation

The metropolis is a public establishment for inter-municipal cooperation with its own tax system, bringing together several municipalities in a single area without an enclave within an area of solidarity in order to draw up and lead together a project for the planning and economic, ecological, educational, cultural and social development of their territory in order to improve its cohesion and competitiveness and to contribute to the sustainable and mutually supportive development of the regional territory. It enhances metropolitan economic functions, its transport networks and its university, research and innovation resources, in a spirit of regional and interregional cooperation and with a concern for balanced territorial development.

On 1 January 2015, public establishments for intercommunal cooperation with their own tax status that form, on the date of the creation of the metropolis, a group of more than 400,000 inhabitants in an urban area, as defined by the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies, of more than 650,000 inhabitants, are transformed by decree into a metropolis.

Subject to an agreement expressed by at least two-thirds of the municipal councils of the municipalities concerned representing more than half of their total population or by at least half of the municipal councils of the municipalities representing two-thirds of the population, may be granted metropolitan status by decree, at their request:

1° Public establishments of inter-municipal cooperation with their own tax status which, on the date of the creation of the metropolis, form a group of more than 400,000 inhabitants;

2° Public establishments for inter-municipal cooperation, not mentioned in the second paragraph and in 1° of this article, which are centres of an employment area with more than 400,000 inhabitants, as defined by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, and which exercise the competences listed in I of l'article L. 5217-2 on the date of entry into force of Law no. 2014-57 of 27 January 2014 on the modernisation of territorial public action and the affirmation of metropolises;

3° Public establishments for inter-municipal cooperation with their own tax status centres of an employment area of more than 400,000 inhabitants, as defined by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, including within their perimeter the regional capital ;

4° Établissements publics de coopération intercommunale à fiscalité propre with more than 250,000 inhabitants or including within their perimeter, as at 31 December 2015, the regional capital, centres of an employment area with more than 500,000 inhabitants, as defined by the Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques.

For the public establishments of inter-municipal cooperation mentioned in 2°, this decree takes into account, for access to the status of metropolis, the strategic command functions of the State and the metropolitan functions effectively exercised on the territory of the public establishment of inter-municipal cooperation, as well as its role in terms of balancing the national territory.

All the competences acquired by a public establishment of intercommunal cooperation prior to its transformation into a metropolis are transferred ipso jure to the metropolis.

The creation of the metropolis is pronounced by decree. This decree fixes the name of the metropolis, its perimeter, the address of its headquarters, its powers on the date of its creation and the date on which this creation takes effect. It designates the public accountant of the metropolis. The metropolis is created without a time limit.

All subsequent modifications relating to the name of the metropolis, the address of the registered office, the designation of the public accountant, the transfer of additional competencies or an extension of the perimeter are pronounced by order of the representative(s) of the State in the department(s) concerned, under the conditions provided for in articles L. 5211-17 to L. 5211-20.

This article does not apply to the Ile-de-France region or the Lyon urban community.

When it is created, the metropolis of Strasbourg, seat of the European institutions, is named: "eurométropole de Strasbourg".

When it is created, the metropolis of Lille is known as the "Lille European Metropolis".