32 letters and six hyphens are simply too many: the name of the town of Saint-Quentin-la-Motte-Croix-au-Bailly does not match the new identity cards in France. The smaller bank card format was supposed to make life easier for French people. Now it is causing frustration in the 1300-inhabitant community in the north of the country. Mayor Raynald Boulenger on the problems that the new ID brings with it.
SZ: Mr. Boulenger, have you already applied for a new ID yourself?
Raynald Boulenger: No, my ID has expired a long time ago. Since 2015, I think. At the moment I only use my passport. This is still valid until 2022. If I were to apply for the ID again, I would probably run into the same problems as many others in my community.
That would be?
The new badges, which were introduced in August, are a few inches smaller than the old ones. Our place name doesn’t quite fit on it anymore. This is a real problem for everyone who urgently needs to renew their ID. A young man had to postpone his theoretical driving test for the third time. He had submitted all the documents to the competent authority – but nothing came back. When he asked after a while, it was said that the new ID could not be issued without the full place name.
How many people in your community is this currently affecting?
I would say five to six. There is, for example, the case of an elderly gentleman who cannot issue his son with a power of attorney for banking transactions without a valid ID.
This is what the new French ID card looks like from the front – no problem for people from Saint-Quentin-la-Motte-Croix-au-Bailly.
(Photo: Ministère de l’Intérieur)
What do you do as a mayor?
I’ve spoken to the relevant authorities. You want to work on a solution. First of all, there are provisional ID cards on which the place name is abbreviated. Actually, abbreviations are not allowed on official documents. An exception has been made for us. There are even several variants: the young man with the driver’s license has an abbreviated version without pronouns, ie “St-Quentin-Motte-Croix-Bailly”, and the gentleman with the guardianship the short form “Saint-Quentin-La-Motte” .
Do other places have the same problem?
As far as I know, there are several dozen parishes in France that have place names that are as long or longer. I haven’t exchanged ideas with them yet, but they should have the same problem.
It gets tight on the back, the 32 letters and six hyphens are beyond the scope.
(Photo: Ministère de l’Intérieur)
What do you actually call the inhabitants of your village? “Saint-Quentin-La-Motte-Croix-au …”?
Very simple: Croisiens. That is why many do not like the abbreviation Saint-Quentin-La-Motte. Part of our identity is missing. The history of our church goes back to the ninth century. Over time, the three villages of Saint Quentin, La Motte and La Croix au Bailly were merged.
So you always say the full name?
Admittedly, we sometimes use the abbreviation “Saint-Quentin-La-Motte” in everyday life.
Does the name of your ward cause other problems? Do you have an oversized town sign?
No, our place name signs are no bigger than anywhere else. The whole name fits on there. Otherwise we don’t really have any problems. If the place name is abbreviated on letters, they usually arrive anyway. Sometimes the boxes on forms are not enough, then you stop when no more letters fit in. Voilà.
Does such a long place name also have advantages?
We are the municipality with the longest name in our Somme department. The town with the shortest name in France is also located in this department. It is called Y. Of course, many find that funny. There are always reports in the media. What may seem like a disadvantage at first is ultimately advertising for our place and our region. Because of you, we are now even known abroad.