The Auvergne Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions have announced "wish to propose to the sports movement and to the State" a joint bid for the Winter Olympics and Paralympics. 

"It’s now or never," Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regional President Laurent Wauquiez told French newspaper L'Equipe.

The CNSOF and CPSF have pledged to examine the proposals.

"Joint work, involving all the relevant state services, will be carried out in the coming weeks," a joint statement from new CNOSF President David Lappartient and CPSF President Marie-Amélie Le Fur said.

"This approach results from the conviction that together and united, a collective Olympic ambition can be brought to the French Alpine massif, an ambition which, in addition to the sporting challenges, is part of a transformation of the economy and the environment of winter sports and an objective of promoting our exceptional natural, cultural and tourist heritage,

"Together, we must imagine 'Games' of the future in the context of the global warming, Games which promote transitions in the world of the mountains, economical Games and popular Games,"

Wauquiez and his opposite number from the Provence Alpes-Côte d'Azur Renaud Muselier have tabled the proposal after more than a year of negotiations.

The pair took advice from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and former French Sports Minister Guy Drut.

"If the request is made only by the Southern Alps, it will not work," Drut said earlier this year.

"We need a bid bringing together the Southern Alps and the Northern Alps."

France has a number of ski resorts across the two areas which have hosted top level international events.

They include Chamonix, Courchevel, Grenoble, Albertville, La Plagne, Megève and Val d'Isere.

"Our conviction is that a duel of two French candidates would not have been good," Walquiez told news agency Agence France-Presse.

France hosted the inaugural Winter Olympics at Chamonix in 1924, but has not held them since 1992 when events were held in Albertville and surrounding resorts. 

"The Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in France in 2030 are a tremendous opportunity to continue the momentum of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games," Lappartient said.

"We create surprise by joining forces."

Earlier this year, joint bid between Valais in Switzerland and Chamonix in France and resorts in northern Italy was investigated before being dropped. 

The hope is that there is more substance to this campaign.

Japanese city Sapporo looked the frontrunner to win its bid for the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympics but has been badly undermined by allegations of corruption involving the re-arranged 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

Stockholm has subsequently launched a bid in the hope of becoming the second city after Beijing to host both the Winter and Summer Olympics.

Walquiez believes, however, that a strong bid from a rival could win.

"We are very complementary, we with our infrastructures from the 1992 Games in Albertville," he said.

"There is a real window of opportunity, we have a real chance because Sweden's candidacy is not convincing.

“Our objective is to succeed in embodying this turning point in the spirit of Olympism. 

"We want to achieve the first sustainable Winter Olympics. 

"Anchored in the territories, which are turning the page on gigantism."

The IOC has expressed concern about the environmental sustainability of the Winter Olympics and bids from Vancouver and the Catalonia region for the 2030 Games had fallen by the wayside.

Salt Lake City, which hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics and Paralympics, is also a possible choice for 2030 but would prefer 2034 to avoid a clash with the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

The Swedish Olympic Committee indicated last month that they would like to move to the second phase of the candidacy process which is "ongoing dialogue" with the IOC over the candidacy of Stockholm.

The most recent French bid for the Winter Olympics was by Annecy for the 2018, but it polled only seven votes in a contest with Munich and Pyeongchang, the South Korean region awarded the Games on a first round vote.

The announcement on the host city for 2030 is expected to be made at the IOC Session in Paris shortly before the 2024 Olympics in the French capital.

Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo were awarded the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympics by the IOC in 2019, when they beat Stockholm.