Too much of a good thing?

President Hollande of France wants to streamline local government.   (FT Tuesday, p4)  France has 13% of the population of the EU’s twenty-eight states, but it has one-third of EU local authorities.  There are 36,700 municipalities, 2,500 intercommunal groupings, 100 prefectures and 200 subprefectures.   The French refer to this as a “millefeuille” in light of these delectable , rich, buttery bureaucratic layers.