Last modified: 2009-03-21 by ivan sache
Keywords: chamber of commerce and industry | cci | hexagon |
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The Chambers of Commerce and Industry (CCI) are organizations
representing the interests of commercial and industrial professions.
The first Chamber of Commerce was created in 1599 by
Barthélemy de Laffemas in Marseilles. Subsequently, Colbert and Pontchartrain founded Chambers of Commerce in several town of the Kingdom of France. Suppressed in 1791, the 22 Chambers of Commerce were reestablished in 1802 by Chaptal.
The Chamber of Commerce of Paris was
created in 1803, together with Consultative Chambers of Factories, Arts and
Industry. Those Consultative Chambers were suppressed in 1950,
several of them being transformed into Chambers of Commerce.
Following the French example, Chambers of Commerce were founded in
Brussels (1703), Cologne (1707), New York (1768), Glasgow (1783)
Edinburgh (1786), etc.
In France, the members of the Chambers of Commerce are elected by
people listed on the trade register. The elections are supervised by the
State Council so that every professional branch has a representation
proportional to its economical importance. There are currently 180
Chambers of Commerce, with 4,500 elected members and 26,000
employees. The Chambers of Commerce are State establishments
supervised by several ministers.
As State establishments supervised by different ministers, the Chambers of Commerce have four main tasks:
- to represent the companies with the State authorities and inform
them. The Chambers of Commerce have an advisory competency on urban
development, transportation, industrial setting up and the
commercial, economical and customs legislation;
- to manage facilities such as ports (190), airports (121),
entrepots, bus stations and hotels;
- to inform and advise companies;
- to train companies' executives, via a network of
colleges such as HEC and the Écoles supérieures
de commerce in Paris and Lyon.
Source: Encyclopaedia Universalis
Ivan Sache, 14 October 2003
Most (but not all) CCI have a flag is made of the logo of the CCI on a white field. In most cases, the logo includes an hexagon, symbolizing France (the country is often nicknamed l'hexagone, which irritates the Bretons who are excluded from the hexagon) and divided into blue and red rays emerging in a spiral pattern from a white off-centred disc.
Ivan Sache, 14 October 2003