One reason is that the limited devolution of power from Paris to the provinces in the 1980s has increased regional politicians' powers of patronage: hence the fall into temptation in the 1990s of Alain Carignon, mayor of Grenoble, and Michel Noir, mayor of Lyons, both of whom went to prison.

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Also, they need to adhere to the other strictures of the Maastricht treaty and not fall into the temptation of abandoning the Euro.

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