The European Collectivity of Alsace (french: Collectivité européenne d'Alsace; gsw-FR, D'Europäischa Gebiatskärwerschàft Elsàss; german: Europäische Gebietskörperschaft Elsass) is a

territorial collectivity A territorial collectivity (french: collectivité territoriale, previously '), or territorial authority, is a chartered subdivision of France with recognized governing authority. It is the generic name for any subdivision (subnational entity) wi ...

in the

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

region of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. On 1 January 2021, the departments of

Bas-Rhin Bas-Rhin (; Alsatian: ''Unterelsàss'', ' or '; traditional german: links=no, Niederrhein; en, Lower Rhine) is a department in Alsace which is a part of the Grand Est super-region of France. The name means 'Lower Rhine', referring to its low ...

and

Haut-Rhin Haut-Rhin (, ; Alsatian: ''Owerelsàss'' or '; german: Oberelsass, ) is a department in the Grand Est region of France, bordering both Germany and Switzerland. It is named after the river Rhine. Its name means ''Upper Rhine''. Haut-Rhin is th ...

merged into a territorial collectivity but remained part of the region

Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administra ...

. The creation of this new entity was voted by the

French Parliament The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris ...

on 25 July 2019 and Law 2019-816 delimiting its powers was promulgated on 2 August 2019. Alsatian voters had already voted in favour of the creation of a single territorial collectivity in a referendum in 2013; however, in the less populous of the two departments, Haut-Rhin, a majority of voters had rejected the proposal.

History

The original Region of Alsace, created in 1956, ceased to exist on 1 January 2016 when the French parliament voted to merge some administrative regions, reducing their number from 22 to 18.

Status

Alsace has an intermediary status: its competencies are those of a department, plus some of the competencies of a

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

. Alsace is therefore less autonomous than Corsica or the overseas departments and regions.

Languages

While French is the sole official language of the country according to Article 2 of the Constitution of France, Law 2019-816 contains provisions to promote regional languages at school. The collectivity will also be tasked to create a Committee related to the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is als ...

in Alsace. This last provision is closely related to

Chapter 3 Chapter Three refers to a third Chapter (books), chapter, but the term may also refer to: Albums *Chapter III (Agathodaimon album), ''Chapter III'' (Agathodaimon album), 2003 *Chapter III (Allure album), ''Chapter III'' (Allure album), 2004 *Chapte ...

and Chapter 4 of the

Aachen Treaty The Aachen Treaty, formally Treaty on Franco-German Cooperation and Integration, and also known as the Treaty of Aachen (german: Aachener Vertrag, german: Vertrag von Aachen, label=none, link=no, french: Traité d'Aix-la-Chapelle), is a bilateral ...

References

External links

European Collectivity of Alsace
2021 establishments in France States and territories established in 2021 France articles needing attention Proposed political divisions Politics of Alsace Territorial evolution of France Subdivisions of France {{France-stub