The law which authorises, on the basis of the fourth paragraph of Article 72 of the Constitution, the territorial authorities to derogate, on an experimental basis, from the legislative provisions governing the exercise of their powers, shall define the purpose of the experiment and its duration, which may not exceed five years, and shall mention the provisions from which derogation may be made.
The law also specifies the categories and characteristics of the local authorities authorised to take part in the experimentation and the cases in which experimentation may be undertaken. It sets the deadline by which territorial authorities that meet the conditions laid down must make their decision to take part in the experiment.