The French: '''loi n° 99-586 du 12 juillet 1999 relative au renforcement et à la simplification de la coopération intercommunale''' ("Law 99-586 of 12 July 1999 relating to the improvement and simplification of inter-communal cooperation"),[1] commonly called the French: '''loi Chevènement''' ("Chevènement law") after its proposer Jean-Pierre Chevènement, is one of the principal laws encouraging inter-municipal cooperation in France.
It defined the roles of three new types of French: établissements publics de coopération intercommunale (EPCI, "Public establishments for inter-communal cooperation") with their own financing:
Some previous structures such as French: communautés de ville, districts and French: syndicats d'agglomération nouvelle ("New town syndicates") were expected to merge into one of these three types of EPCI.