Technical aid to accelerate projects in villages, funding to protect rural natural areas, medical buses… Matignon unveiled the outlines of its France Ruralités plan on Wednesday, which Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne is due to announce on Thursday during a trip to Vienne. . This plan of around forty measures is the culmination of “a year of particularly intense partnership work centered on the issue of territorial equity”, i.e. “how we ensure all territories, and in particular rural territories , the same opportunities,” Matignon explained during a press briefing.
To meet the challenges specific to the rural world, which represents 22 million inhabitants and 90% of the surface area of France, four areas have been defined. A Villages d’Avenir program will be launched to help rural municipalities carry out their projects (similar to city center “revitalization” programs such as Action Coeur de Ville). And 100 “engineering” project managers will be recruited by the State and deployed in the prefectures.
Among other highly anticipated measures, villages will be remunerated through the “biodiversity” grant, which will be increased from 42 million euros “to more than 100 million euros” to protect “rural amenities”, namely spaces protected natural areas (natural parks) but also areas that currently have no market value (soils, forests, ponds, wetlands, etc.) for municipalities.
Rural territories “represent extremely important challenges in terms of carbon sinks, agricultural transition, production of renewable energies and this role […] places them at the heart of ecological planning”, commented Matignon. France Ruralités also provides for an action plan which concerns “all the ministries” in order to improve the daily lives of the inhabitants of rural areas, where a feeling of relegation sometimes prevails.
On the transport side, a fund of 90 million euros over three years will help communities deploy “innovative” mobility services so that people are “less dependent on their car”. Faced with the deterioration of buildings in certain town centers, a “vacancy exit bonus” will be put in place to put real estate back on the main residence market. A support fund for trade in rural areas must also be made permanent.
Regarding access to care, one of the main concerns of the inhabitants of rural areas particularly affected by medical deserts, the government will launch 100 “medico-buses” staffed with specialists, in particular gynecologists, in places “where it is hardest to access” care. Last axis: to perpetuate the system of rural revitalization zones (ZRR) – which allows companies, communities, etc. in rural areas to benefit from tax and social exemptions. Its cartography will be reformed to reach the most fragile municipalities.