"It is clear to everyone that (this law applies) on January 1, 2022, this date had been set so that it leaves time, after the municipal elections, for everyone to negotiate", explained the minister on France Inter judging that "when a reform is 20 years old, we have to be able to move forward".

"You have people who opposed for political and political reasons and there are also town halls which are today in court since they have shown no desire to comply with the law" , accused Ms. de Montchalin.

On Wednesday, five communist mayors of Seine-Saint-Denis requested a delay while their municipalities were assigned by the prefect of the department.

Passed in 2019, the civil service transformation law imposes the application of 35 hours to all civil servants, i.e. 1,607 hours of effective work per year.

This provision implies the abolition of derogatory regimes, more favorable on working time, in place in certain administrations.

A procedure is also still in progress around the application of the 35 hours for the agents of the city of Paris, certain provisions envisaged by the new work regulations of the personnel negotiated with the unions having been suspended in summary by justice.

A judgment on the merits must be made by the end of the first quarter of 2022. On this subject, evoking "many postures", the minister declared to observe recently that "on the sly, with much less noise", "the town hall of Paris enforce the law".

If 80% of the municipalities have complied with these new rules, there "remain a small number of situations where the deliberations which have been taken do not correspond to the law", explains the minister.

In these cases, the prefects show "good intelligence and support, the goal (not being) to go to court for everyone", added Ms. de Montchalin.

© 2022 AFP