The ("Law 99-586 of 12 July 1999 relating to the improvement and simplification of inter-communal cooperation"), commonly called the ("Chevènement law") after its proposer Jean-Pierre Chevènement, then Interior Minister in the Jospin government, is one of the principal laws encouraging inter-municipal cooperation in France.
It defined the roles of three new types of (EPCI, "Public establishments for inter-communal cooperation") with their own financing:
Some previous structures such as , districts and ("New town syndicates") were expected to merge into one of these three types of EPCI.