PRESS RELEASE
21 November 2024
Public policy evaluation
THE
TERRITOIRES D’INDUSTRIE
PROGRAMME
The
Territoires d'Industrie
Programme was launched in 2018 by the government to set up a
cooperative framework to support industry outside metropolitan areas, around small and
medium-sized towns and in rural areas. These areas are home to a large number of
companies and production units, with a proportion of industry in local employment well
above the national figure, at around 25 %. The aim of the programme was to reconcile
industrial policy, centred on innovation and sector strategies, with regional cohesion
objectives. The aim was to support local reindustrialisation projects by giving companies
and local authorities priority access to the services and funding offered by the State. The
programme also took account of the growing power of local authorities in the field of
economic development and the simultaneous reduction in the resources of the State's
decentralised administrations
. Despite the lack of an overall assessment of the programme,
the government decided in 2023 to extend
Territoires d'Industrie
until 2027, while at the
same time developing it further. Against this backdrop, the Court carried out an evaluation
of the 2018-2023 programme, the main lessons of which will need to be taken into account
in this second phase.
An original programme combining industrial policy and regional planning, which has evolved
with the recovery plan
The
Territoires d'Industrie
programme was based on three pillars: the definition of industrial
basins (1), with the 149 "
Territoires d'industrie
" grouping together one or more inter-
municipalities to form frameworks for cooperation between the various players; a "basket of
services", including funding (2), managed by State departments and, above all, State operators
such as
Bpifrance
, the
Caisse des dépôts
,
Business France
and
Ademe
; and specific governance
(3) organised at the local, regional and national level. When the programme was launched, the
government announced that
€
1.4 billion would be made available to the designated areas,
corresponding to a range of measures under the ordinary law of the State and its operators.
New actions, and therefore new funding, were marginal. This first phase was marked by the
mobilisation of inter-municipal bodies to draw up action plans validated by the State's
decentralised services, with a certain doctrinal and conceptual vagueness. The covid-19
epidemic ushered in a second phase in the implementation of the programme, during which its
content changed significantly. The implementation of the action plans, most of which had just
been adopted, slowed sharply. At the same time, additional measures were launched as part
of the recovery plan, in particular direct subsidies to businesses through the Regional Industrial
Investment Acceleration Fund (
Fonds d'accélération des investissements industriels dans les
territoires
), which has been allocated
€
712m by the State and
€
242m by the
regions
.
Has the
Territoires d'Industrie
Programme helped to boost the industrial dynamism of the
designated regions? Three evaluation questions with contrasting answers
Since its launch, the Territoires d'Industrie programme has mobilised players and created a
forum for exchange. Its success depends on the voluntary commitment of local players, while
the State plays a coordinating role. Launched in 2020, the Industrial Investment Acceleration
Fund (
Fonds d'accélération des investissements industriels
) has built on the programme and
strengthened its momentum thanks to the rapid mobilisation of local players: although
Territoires d'industrie
accounts for only 48 % of industrial companies, it represents more than
two-thirds of the projects financed, a sign of increased local cooperation.
On the other hand, the prioritisation of funding announced by the government at
€
1.4bn in
2018 did not materialise, either in terms of the number or amount of interventions, as
operators did not prioritise
Territoires d’industrie
. Their ability to pinpoint the projects they
support should be improved. The programme suffered from inadequate financial monitoring
and little involvement of the regions at the outset, even though their engagement increased
with the covid-19 crisis, notably through co-financing. However, local authorities with the label
have increased their spending on economic actions more than others.
Lastly, the impact on industrial employment and company trajectories is difficult to measure
and requires more time. Many industrial regions have not managed to halt the decline of
previous years and have continued to destroy industrial jobs: between 2018 and 2023, industrial
regions accounted for 44 % of industrial job creation but 71 % of job destruction. On the other
hand, the number of industrial companies is declining slightly less in areas with the label, and
their financial situation is better on average, which could be linked to a modernisation of the
industrial production base.
An evaluation framework to be developed with a view to renewing the programme
The new phase of
Territoires d'industrie
(2023-2027) was launched without any prior evaluation
of the previous phase, and there is still no evaluation system or specific indicator to measure
the achievement of the new objectives set by the State. The initial approach, which aimed to
localise the State's industrial policies by relying on local cooperation and company initiatives,
has proved effective, although significant adjustments are needed to mobilise operators more
effectively. Decisions about the future of the programme should be based on an evaluation of
its effects, which is virtually non-existent today. It is therefore essential that the assessment
methodology, to be established, be robust and include all stakeholders, including private
players. Such a development would be consistent with the programme's political guidelines and
with the decentralisation of certain powers exercised by local and regional authorities.
Read the report
PRESS CONTACTS:
Julie Poissier
Communications Director
T
+33 (0)6 87 36 52 21
julie.poissier@ccomptes.fr
Sarah Gay
Press Relations Officer
T
+33 (0)6 50 86 91 83
sarah.gay@ccomptes.fr