In France, associated communes (French: communes associƩes) were created by the Commune Merger Act of July 16, 1971 (also called the Marcellin Act). It permits the formerly independent communes to maintain certain institutions, such as
On January 1, 2006, there were 730 communes associƩes in France. Most of those were created within four years after passing the Marcellin Act.
References
Associated communes of France Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA