Article 5 of the law of January 16, 2015 establishes the number of regional councilors at 183; it distributes the number of candidates by departmental section for the 2015 elections:[1] This number of candidates per departmental section includes two substitute candidates (article 3 of the law of January 16, 2016).

[1] Thus, the exact number of elected officials per department sitting on the Regional Council will be 11 for Charente, 20 for Charente-Maritime, 8 for Corrèze, 4 for Creuse etc.

The law of August 7, 2015 on the new territorial organization of the Republic (NOTRe) specifies the competences of the region:[5] The regional council is competent to promote: the economic, social, health, cultural and scientific development of the region, support for access to housing and the improvement of housing, support for city policy and urban renewal and support for education policies and the development and equality of its territories, as well as to ensure the preservation of its identity and the promotion of regional languages, while respecting the integrity, 'autonomy and attributions of departments and municipalities.

It sets the objectives in terms of territorial balance and equality, the establishment of various infrastructures of regional interest, the opening up of rural areas, housing, economical management of space, intermodality and development of transport.

[8][9] Managing authority for European funds ERDF, EAFRD and part of the ESF.