Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (sometimes abbreviated BFC) is a new Region of France created by the territorial reform of French Regions in 2014 by the merger of Burgundy, and Franche-Comté. The new region came into existence after the regional elections of December 2015, on 1 January 2016. Bourgogne-Franche-Comté is a provisional name, created by hyphenating the merged regions in alphabetical order; its regional council must approve a new name for the region by 1 July 2016, which then must be approved by France's Conseil d'État by 1 October 2016.