Compiègne Agglo publications will have to give more space to opposition elected officials

“A page on a 100 -page publication, it would be reasonable, considers theopponent Etienne Diot. But there, 1/5th of page, it is not enough. ” THE administrative court has just canceled a deliberation from the Council of the Community ofAgglomeration of the Compiègne region (Arc) of June 30, 2022. We are talking about theSpace reserved for expression of the opposition advisers in the publications of the arc, like the Annual bulletin. Article 59 of the internal regulations fixes this space a fifth of a page.

Etienne Diot opposition advisers and Emmanuelle Guillaume-Monneryrespectively elected to Compiègne and Margny-lès-Compiègne, filed a request against article 59 concerning the “communication media”, of the chapter 3 devoted to “the expression of the municipalities and the community councilors”. This article in the internal regulations distribute this freedom of expression “to four fifths for the municipalities and a fifth for the opposition”. The distribution is the same on the website and the Facebook account.

“Sufficient character” and “equitable distribution”

According to the administrative court (decision of December 31), the space reserved for the minority must present “a sufficient character” and “be fairly distributed” having regard to the characteristics of the publication.

“Bounding to reserve”, this space of a fifth of a page, regardless of the number of advisers concerned (5 elected officials out of 53), but also the volume and the periodicity of the publication, the Arc Council “Has disregarded the extent of the competence assigned to it by the aforementioned provisions of article L. 2121-27-1 of the general code of local authorities”.

Etienne Diot and Mrs. Guillaume-Monnery are therefore “founded to request the cancellation of the deliberation of June 30, 2022”. The Agglo must pay € 1,500 to Etienne Diot for court costs.

Etienne Diot regularly requests the administrative court

The municipality has two months for (from December 31) to change the regulations. So that the space reserved for the minority “presents, in all circumstances, a sufficient character and is equitably distributed with regard to the characteristics of each publication”.

This is the second time that Etienne Diot has canceled the internal regulations concerning the space reserved for the opposition in the publications of the Agglo de Compiègne.

Etienne Diot is at the origin of other convictions of the city by the administrative court. The most recent concerns the obligation for fourteen elected officials to reimburse their allowances, due to “insufficiently precise” delegations. He also tried to have the “braded” sale of the annex of the Anglican church Saint Andrew, “when it could have been canceled for associations”.