Elected officials from smaller municipalities denounced the destruction of a “territorial network” with the closing of counters in town halls.
And the government seems forced to back down.
Minister Delegate for Communities Dominique Faure announced new measures on Friday to shorten the time required to obtain identity cards and passports, up to six months in 2022.
While traveling in Val-de-Marne, the Minister announced the opening of 500 new counters throughout France to allow more town halls to receive requests for titles, known as "collection devices" (DR), in order to collect the applicant's fingerprints.
The municipalities that collect the applications will also receive an additional 20 million euros under the grant for secure titles.
This aid, which can go up to 21,000 euros per collection device, covers "75% of the cost of an assigned agent" in the service, said the ministry.
A search engine (rendezvouspasseport.ants.gouv.fr) has also been launched to facilitate making appointments at town halls in the same area.
A period reduced from 90 to 50 days, assures the ministry
Since the end of 2021, requests for the creation or renewal of identity documents have experienced an unprecedented increase, caused both by the gradual exit from the Covid 19 pandemic and the catch-up in requests, and by the enthusiasm for the new identity card. identity or the fact that valid identity documents are more often required, in particular for travel.
The hexagon has thus gone from around 9 million requests in 2019 to more than 12 million in 2022. “This increase has led to a significant deterioration in the times for making appointments at the town hall, which reached an average of 90 days in May. 2022,” the ministry said.
The appointment at the town hall is only the first step in the process of obtaining a title.
Then comes a time of instruction by the services of the prefecture then a time of printing the title.
Read alsoApplications for passports and identity cards: how Val-de-Marne is trying to reduce traffic congestion in the prefecture
An emergency plan launched in 2022 has already increased the number of request collection locations by 15%.
An allocation of 14 million euros has also been released for town halls that had systems for collecting titles and twenty-nine temporary reception centers have been set up.
Additional staff has also been recruited in the prefectures, the ministry assures.
“This first step has enabled us to reduce the time it takes to make an appointment at the town hall from 90 to 50 days on average,” adds the ministry.
Some 4,500 collection devices are now installed or in the process of being installed in 2,500 municipalities.