Territorial Council meeting on 27 June: key takeaways
For the past two months, the Collectivité’s departments have not been issuing driving licences or vehicle registration certificates. For the past two weeks, it has been impossible to submit a vehicle registration application. Why is this? The question was raised at the Territorial Council meeting on 27 June.
Tax on the consumption of petroleum products: €8.31 million to be refunded
The tax on the consumption of petroleum products (TCPP) collected by the customs service on behalf of the Collectivité was not in accordance with European law. By ruling on 11 March 2026 that the Collectivité must abolish this tax, the Court of Cassation paved the way for refund claims from fuel importers. GEDC must therefore be reimbursed, by immediate payment order, €3.45 million for the TCPP paid between 2013 and 2016. Furthermore, the Collectivité must set aside provisions of €1.160 M to cover GEDC’s claim for reimbursement relating to financial years not subject to the limitation period. Whilst GEDC is currently the only operator to have submitted a claim for reimbursement to the Collectivité, six other operators are in a position to do so. To cover this probable risk, the Collectivité will need to set aside €3.7 million in the supplementary budget. There remains the theoretical risk of a claim from EDF, estimated at €17.1 million over the last two years… which, to date, is not the subject of any legal proceedings.
Territorial COP: creation of an ad hoc committee for coordination and monitoring
In 2022, the Territorial Council approved the creation of the Ad Hoc Committee on Ecological Transition. Comprising 10 territorial councillors, its purpose was to prepare for the transfer of environmental powers to the Collectivité. It has never met.
Yet the situation is urgent, as by 2100 sea levels will have risen by 80 cm, temperatures will have increased by 3°C and most cyclones will be category 4 or 5. The successful conclusion of the Territorial COP and the drafting of the roadmap in December 2024 call for this body to be developed further.
It will therefore be transformed into a coordination and monitoring committee (meeting quarterly) tasked with implementing the 58 points listed. This provided an opportunity for the President to reiterate his desire to transfer environmental powers to the Collectivité in order to “demonstrate that we are rising to the challenge of our ambitions”, whilst nevertheless establishing a partnership with the State.
Adjustment of provisions: €29 million
The issue sparked debate between the majority and the opposition. At the heart of the matter was an accounting entry of €29,034,846, which in itself does not constitute a financial contribution, but rather an adjustment designed to balance the budget. The Collectivité had provisions for risks and charges, recorded under liabilities on the balance sheet: €11,115,000 for foreign exchange losses, €200,000 for loan guarantees and €1,504,592 for disputes and litigation, set aside prior to 2015; and finally €16.215 million for risks, set aside between 2017 and 2018. These provisions are now redundant as the initial risk no longer exists.
Their amount will therefore be charged to the operating revenue of the 2026 supplementary budget. For the most part, these transactions are the result of a review and clean-up of the balance sheet undertaken prior to the implementation of the single financial account.
Allocation of two grants to the Mission Locale
The item was added to the Territorial Council’s agenda at the last minute. It was proposed to award the Mission Locale a grant of €520,000 for the year 2026 to support the implementation of its action programme, to ensure the smooth running of the organisation and to guarantee the continuity of support for young people aged 16 to 25 in their social and professional integration. A multi-annual agreement setting out objectives and resources for the period 2026–2028 was signed between the Territorial Authority and the Local Mission. A second grant of €42,000 has also been allocated on an exceptional basis to fund the purchase of a ‘mobile van’ to improve outreach by going out to meet young people.
When asked whether these funds were available, President Mussington replied that “we don’t have to have the money straight away; we can spread the payments out”, adding that the Collectivité now maintained a prioritised list of payments to be settled.
