In 2004 he approached the Development Council. In 2008, he entered the office. You were vice-president during the second term of office. In 2015, you take over from Etcheto President Jean-Baptiste Etcheto. You are currently the president of the association. What would you highlight on this route?

When I started in the office of the Development Council, my first goal was to better communicate with the members of the council and to make people understand as clearly as possible the issues we are working on. I saw the need to change my way of working. Before, our opinion first went hand in hand with the technicians and then with the people we presented. However, opinions occupied hundreds of pages that we could not transmit to the 150 social agents in the right mold.

What has been the council’s most important forum in its internal functioning?

On the one hand, the proper integration of the different conceptions of the public in the sessions. People don't have time to go to meetings, many work at home, so we think about something else. On the other hand, our main task is to strike a balance between the electorate and civil society. Bringing too much idea is not good, far from it. It is essential that the voice of civil society meet, it is the value of the Development Council and the additional capacity.

The Development Council and the Council of Elects have made a long way together. Starting in 2017, change is coming.

In previous decades there were members who worked at the same time on the two Development and Elect Councils. The round table involved people of all levels and responsibilities, with the aim of achieving balanced development of the territory. Now we are in another era, because the new institutional structure is under construction: Commonwealth of Iparralde. The Development Council has not changed as a representation of civil society. The amendment will therefore be made to the Council of Elects. The partnership will go from being an institution to becoming an institution from January onwards, so we must seek new ways of working. It's the work we're doing.

It can be said that the Development Council is in a transitional position.

In September 2015, we asked our partners to position themselves in favour of the new institution. In addition to renewing the way we work, we have asked them in detail: What can the Single Community of Iparralde (also called HELEP) provide in its area? We have made available to the elected representatives the contributions of the social partners: business, agriculture, transport, housing or culture. We are channelling proposals from civil society associations to help build a new institution. We are talking about the future of the Development Council, about our convictions and about our structure to adapt it. In the meantime, we do not know what the new structure will be, but we want to maintain the spirit that has been maintained so far and to continue to work with the electorate.

It is therefore time to work on relations.

The structure of a political institution is often very formal and rigid. For example, if the Development Council has to work within the Urban College on a closed agenda, which does not allow for change, that is not in our interest. We have to build the way we work together, we're looking for a new form of relationship, we want to keep building each other. In short, we want it to be a space to experience a new institution to continue as we have done so far. We want there to be a joint committee for the development of dialogue with society, both with the workers’ unions and with the elderly. 90% of Development Council partnerships are the main actors involved. At the same time, we want to continue to function as a partnership and to be independent.

“Sometimes it is not well understood what the functions of the Development Council and the Council of Elected Officials are, nor how we work together,” he said when he took office. Have you clarified that task?

The Development Council is not elected by universal suffrage. There are associations, the administrations of the institutions too, but the agents are the citizens. On the contrary, the members of the Council of Elects are elected by universal suffrage. The Development Council makes the actors available for their proposals. The basis of the new era is the willingness of civil society to build the Single Commonwealth of Iparralde, a demand of many years ago.

What is the general position of the electorate?

In recent years, the elected representatives have been very busy building the institutional framework, not so much in terms of content. They are trying to shape the new institution and they have to discuss in depth the reflection on the substance. However, it is difficult to reconcile and function well with everyone.

The Euskal Herria Territorial Contract 2014-2020 is in force. The state model is in crisis. On the road to decentralization, the Region has expanded, the Department has weakened, the Public Schools will disappear to create the Single Commonwealth of Iparralde. How does this affect the signing of the new contract?

It's hard to tell how it affects. There are many vague issues to deal with, many doubts, it's like when a new partnership is created. We are the only territory that we have a special contract in France. There is a firm will on the part of the State to normalize the “relationship” with the Basque Country. The State wants to develop the inter-communal nature of the peoples. The State also wants the Contract to be further developed so far. It wants to review the draft contract, but the Development Council does not decide, it is very important to understand it. Civil society proposes and the electorate decide. It is true that so far civil society has also partially defined the content of the Contract. In the Last Contract, some 700 people have taken part in the ten main themes, the elects have taken into account the proposal of the agents and the agents have responded again. The negotiating table, regulated by arbitration, is under way. We are not funders, so we cannot decide, but the opinion that has been given on the nature of the contract does.

A large number of resources have been put in place by an elected sector to prevent the creation of the new institution. What do you think of it?

The time for change is very difficult. The institution will be new, making it even more difficult for the electorate to join. I myself have experienced nothing warm attacks on the part of those opposed to the Single Commonwealth of Iparralde. They did not want me to show such a clear position in favour of the project. So, “I’ve made friends.” In any case, as President of the Development Council, I consider it “normal”. The elects have been elected precisely in the groupings of agglomerations and peoples, since the construction of the Single Commonwealth of Iparralde has begun. It's a big change. You know, in France, there's a culture of initiation.

Do you not think that a sector understands the College more as a structure of social services and not as a College that gives identity to the Basque Country?

When identity is strong, the basis for negotiation is better. Therefore, with a well-defined territory or perimeter, we will be even stronger. If you want, call it identity. For example, starting to organize transportation can be a way to reclaim identity. For example, between Baiona and Maule there are four clusters of municipalities. In order to finance transport they had to agree, from now on it will be different. In the organization of transport, a common identity is also built. The point is that we are going to have a single institution, which is going to encourage the elected people throughout the territory to work together. So far we have not had it, we have been divided, in general, people have not been forced to undertake a joint project together.

There may be a risk of civil society falling into "standardisation".

I am not concerned about the normalisation or demobilisation of society, but about the demotivation of the electorate, the lack of desire to work with civil society. The risk is that standardisation will forget the work done between them and put aside the culture of working together. The competencies coming from the department will move to the Region, the structures will change, but the elected positions are the same, we and civil society as well. The electorate, on the contrary, will have the power they did not have before in the territory. Philosophy can change, that's dangerous. We in the Development Council are working to maintain that spirit. There are currently 400 Development Councils in the state and in line with the NOTRe law, 1,200, 800 new will be created. As the NOTRe law becomes stronger, our organization could be left behind, civil society could lose its place. But we are vigilant, we continue to watch to cooperate. Our place is next to the electorate, always ready to help and to make public policy proposals.

Suppose we're in 2020. That the Single Commonwealth of Iparralde has reaffirmed its line. Can the Development Council exist?

It is a question that comes from the South and has its own mentality. As soon as you start working there, you create a political party. This leads civil society to the port of war. That is not our case. Whatever happens here in the institutions, civil society must be strong. Otherwise, technicians are dedicated to the promotion of ideas with politicians, leaving aside civil society. This kind of policy is corruption. In 2020 the elected officials will be expressly elected in the institution. If civil society cannot be understood between civil society and elected people, civil society will be nominated.

You are critical of the form of politics of the South, apparently.

I do not mean that there is no democracy in the South, but there is a lack of strong representation of civil society, disconnected from the structures of politics, from the institutions. I am chairman of the Development Council, I am not elected at the ballot box, and I am freer. I am free to speak, I am in a partnership, I am not tied to a party that dictates to me what I have to say. What is created here is around a table, in line with the reflections of civil society.

The situation of the Basque people in Iparralde is very serious. How do you live that?

I'm Euskaldun berri. The situation in Euskera hurts me. I realize that for most Euskera is not important, only a few have interest. There are also those who do not respect the election of the Basques. However, we cannot criticise foreigners who do not learn Euskera, because we have not been able to correctly convey the importance of Euskera and its need for us. We do not use Euskera well, we use it folklore. Unfortunately, the Basque country is in danger of disappearing here.

What can the Development Council do to improve the situation in the Basque Country?

I would like to give priority to Euskera in 2017. People must be made aware of why language is important, so that they know what our culture is, otherwise they will not learn. I start all our sessions in Basque and the representatives of the State put the helmets of translation.