Municipal 2026: the CPME asks candidates to have “the SME reflex” and asks them to sign a charter

The CPME asks candidates for the March municipal elections to “adopt the SME reflex” and suggests that they sign a “charter of commitments” in favor of local economic development.

The employers’ organization is thus publishing 91 proposals for action to “make the local economy a pillar of the mandate”, with “a clear message to future elected officials: nothing will be done without entrepreneurs”, it explains on Friday in a press release.

Three priorities

These proposals were developed from a consultation with business leaders in December, based on 2,500 contributions received. The proposals are organized around three priorities.

The first aims to strengthen territorial attractiveness, in particular through systematic consultation prior to any municipal decision likely to affect businesses.

The second priority is the desire to grow SMEs and encourage entrepreneurship. The CPME advocates in particular for making public purchasing a real lever of growth for these companies. It therefore recommends dividing the markets into lots to allow these small or medium-sized companies to participate in the call for tenders.

Third axis, the CPME asks elected officials to support the ecological and digital transitions, in particular by accelerating the deployment of very high speed and 5G, and to discuss with companies the “most useful” uses of artificial intelligence for the community.

The CPME will propose to candidates to sign a charter in 10 commitments, taking up these concrete proposals, and also including the promise to “guarantee local fiscal stability on the mandate”, to appoint “a referent companies in town hall”, to “strictly respect payment within 30 days” of public contracts or to “remove obstacles to local recruitment” by treating housing, mobility and early childhood “as economic priorities”.

“Behind all the transformations that are taking place, the solution is the company. We are proposing a paradigm shift: elected officials must build their mandate with entrepreneurs. Adopting the SME reflex means serving your community,” says CPME president Amir Reza-Tofighi in the press release.