The following may benefit from technical assistance made available by the department, instituted by article L. 3232-1-1:
1° Communes considered as rural pursuant to I of article D. 3334-8-1, excluding those whose per capita financial potential, as defined by article L. 2334-4, was, for the year preceding the request for assistance, greater than 1.3 times the average per capita financial potential of municipalities with fewer than 5,000 inhabitants;
2° Public establishments for inter-municipal cooperation with fewer than 40,000 inhabitants for which the population of municipalities meeting the conditions set by 1° represents more than half of the total population of the municipalities that are members;
3° Establishments of inter-municipal cooperation comprising at least half of their member communes located in mountain areas, within the meaning of the articles 3 and 4 of Law no. 85-30 of 9 January 1985 on the development and protection of mountain areas.
Municipalities and public establishments for inter-municipal cooperation may continue to benefit from technical assistance during the year following the year in which they cease to meet the required conditions.