MPs want France to have 13 regions

FRANCE’S National Assembly has today adopted a 13-region map of France, at the end of a late-night debate.

The latest new-look map unites Poitou-Charentes with Limousin and Aquitaine, as well as Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy - despite resistance from some representatives of the regions concerned.

MPs also agreed to merge Champagne-Ardenne with Alsace and Lorraine.

The government had proposed to reduce the number of regions in France from 22 to 14 last month.

But MPs rejected that form of the plan, and came up with a number of significant changes to the map originally envisaged by President Francois Hollande.

Last night, they settled for now on a 13-region future for France.

Interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve said: "There is no ideal map," but inisted that "we had the audacity to make on while being open to changes”.

MP Carlos Da Silva, who originally proposed that Aquitaine should merge with Limousin described the current plan as, "a point of equilibrium" but said that it "may need to be modified.”

Under the plans, only six regions remain unchanged: Brittany, Corsica, Ile-de-France, Centre, Pays de la Loire, and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

The territorial reform bill goes to vote on Wednesday, when MPs will also discuss plans to delay regional and departmental elections from May 2015 to December 2015 - after the territorial changes have taken place.