Bretagne Réunie

Bretagne Réunie (formerly the Comité pour l'unité administrative de la Bretagne, CUAB) is a French association founded in 1973 whose stated purpose is the administrative reunification of Brittany through the attachment of the Loire-Atlantique department to the Brittany region. It presents itself as apolitical and brings together local member committees, a network of socio-professionals and researchers; it reported 1,600 members in 2016. Its first president was Patrick Mareschal, a former president of the Loire-Atlantique general council. The association carries out campaigning and awareness-raising actions, including information dissemination and public events. It has organised demonstrations in Nantes, notably in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2014 and 2016. It campaigns against what it describes as the de-Bretonisation of the Nantes area, against images of Brittany that omit Loire-Atlantique, against the creation of a 'paysdeloirienne' identity and against a possible 'Grand Ouest' region. A central campaign has been its petition for a consultation of the population of Loire-Atlantique. In 2017 it set the goal of collecting 100,000 signatures to request a consultation from the Loire-Atlantique departmental council under the 'right of option' in the January 2015 territorial reform law, which allows a department to change region; 100,000 signatures correspond to 10% of the department's electorate and oblige the assembly to place the holding of a consultation on its agenda. By early August 2018 the association announced it had passed two-thirds of the required signatures (67,000), and by late November 2018 it reached the 100,000 threshold; the signatures were submitted on 27 November 2018 to the Loire-Atlantique departmental council. The association's website states that 105,000 inhabitants of Loire-Atlantique have signed the petition for a population consultation on the return of the '44' to the Brittany region. In 2024 the Nantes administrative court of appeal rejected the association after it had criticised the president of the Loire-Atlantique Department for refusing to place the question of Brittany's reunification on the agenda. In 2025 the 'Nantes en Bretagne' banner that the association deploys while accompanying cultural groups in the Lorient Interceltic Festival parade was banned from marching at that year's edition, a first since 2017, which sparked local debate. The association also works with Nhu.bzh and organises events such as the Salon Vins et Saveurs de Bretagne, held in Saint-Nazaire on 14 February 2026, and it deposited a petition on the National Assembly website on 5 September 2026 asking that citizens be consulted on the integration of Loire-Atlantique into the Brittany region.

Bretagne Réunie was founded in 1973 under the name Comité pour l'unité administrative de la Bretagne (CUAB). Its first president was Patrick Mareschal, a former president of the Loire-Atlantique general council. The association describes itself as apolitical and organises itself around local committees of members, a network of socio-professionals and researchers; it reported 1,600 members in 2016. Its purpose is the administrative reunification of Brittany through the attachment of the Loire-Atlantique department to the Brittany region. Over the decades it has carried out campaigning actions and awareness-raising and popular-education activities, largely through information dissemination. It states that it works in partnership with the agency Bretagne presse and the site nhu.bzh. It has organised demonstrations in Nantes, notably in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2014 and 2016. Its campaigns have opposed the de-Bretonisation of the Nantes area, the image of a Brittany that omits Loire-Atlantique, the creation of a 'paysdeloirienne' identity and a possible 'Grand Ouest' region. A major phase of its activity has been the petition campaign for a consultation of the population of Loire-Atlantique. In 2017 the association set itself the objective of collecting 100,000 signatures to request a consultation from the Loire-Atlantique departmental council under the 'right of option' provided by the January 2015 territorial reform law, which allows a department to change region. That number corresponds to 10% of the department's electorate and obliges the assembly to place the holding of a consultation on its agenda. In early August 2018 the association announced it had passed two-thirds of the necessary signatures, or 67,000. By late November of the same year the 100,000-signature threshold was reached, and the signatures were deposited on 27 November 2018 at the Loire-Atlantique departmental council. The association's website states that 105,000 inhabitants of Loire-Atlantique have signed the petition for a population consultation on the return of the '44' to the Brittany region. In the 2024 legislative elections the association denounced the absence of positions by candidates on the question of reunification. In 2024 the Nantes administrative court of appeal rejected the association after it had criticised the president of the Loire-Atlantique Department for refusing to place the question of Brittany's reunification on the agenda of debates. In 2025 the 'Nantes en Bretagne' banner that the association deploys while accompanying cultural groups during the Lorient Interceltic Festival parade was banned from marching at that year's edition, a first since 2017, which sparked local debate. The association also works with Nhu.bzh. It organises events such as the Salon Vins et Saveurs de Bretagne, whose third edition was announced for 14 February 2026 in Saint-Nazaire, and on 5 September 2026 it deposited a petition on the National Assembly website asking that citizens be consulted on the integration of Loire-Atlantique into the Brittany region.

• 2026

  Salon Vins et Saveurs de Bretagne held in Saint-Nazaire on 14 February; on 5 September a petition is deposited on the National Assembly website for a citizen consultation on Loire-Atlantique's integration into Brittany.

• 2025

  'Nantes en Bretagne' banner banned from marching at the Lorient Interceltic Festival, a first since 2017; on 17 October the association seizes the European Court of Human Rights over the 105,000-signature petition.

• 2024

  Nantes administrative court of appeal rejects the association; during legislative elections it denounces candidates' lack of positions on reunification.

• 2018

  By early August, two-thirds of signatures (67,000) collected; by late November the 100,000 threshold reached and signatures deposited on 27 November at the Loire-Atlantique departmental council.

• 2017

  Association sets objective of collecting 100,000 signatures for a consultation under the 2015 territorial reform law's 'right of option'.

• 2016

  Demonstration organised in Nantes; association reports 1,600 members.

• 1998

  Demonstration organised in Nantes.

• 1973

  Comité pour l'unité administrative de la Bretagne (CUAB) founded; Patrick Mareschal becomes first president.

Apolitical association advocating the administrative reunification of Brittany with five departments.

1. 1Accueil - Bretagne Réuniebretagnereunie.bzh
2. 2Bretagne Réuniewikidata.org
3. 3Bretagne réuniefr.wikipedia.org