Macron offered Corsica autonomy – Vedomosti

French President Emmanuel Macron proposed to consolidate the special status of the Corsican community within the framework of the French constitution. He proposed to prepare a bill within six months that would regulate issues of special status, France 24 TV channel reports. If the document is adopted, Corsica will become the first region of France with the status of an autonomous unit.

Macron made this statement during a speech at the Corsica Assembly. It is rather an advisory body, but the majority of seats in it (46 mandates out of 63) are occupied by supporters of Corsica’s independence from the French state or broad self-government of the island. The Assembly forms local executive authorities, but does not have legislative powers. In addition, the assembly, unlike regional councils on the mainland, can submit proposals to the central government regarding the organization of local government on the island.

In an address to deputies, Macron stated the need to reflect Corsican identity in the country’s constitution. According to the country’s legislation, France is a unitary state, and all residents inhabiting the country are French. Despite this, the French authorities do not deny the existence of separate ethnic groups within the French nation – Corsicans, Bretons, Alsatians or Basques.

“Let’s be brave and create autonomy for Corsica. This autonomy should be a means of building a future together, without separation from the state. This will be neither autonomy against the state, nor autonomy without the state,” said the country’s president. Macron did not specify what specific powers local authorities could receive.

Macron also proposed giving the Corsican Assembly legislative powers in “pre-defined areas” and improving the teaching of the Corsican language (a dialect of Italian) in educational institutions. “Institutional changes will allow Corsica to preserve its soul,” he added.

Macron first put forward the idea of ​​granting administrative autonomy to Corsica ahead of the French presidential elections in April 2022. Then this statement was made against the backdrop of social unrest on the island caused by the murder of Corsican nationalist Ivan Collona in a French prison. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the island’s prefect (chief of police) in 1998.

Since the mid-1970s, Corsican nationalists have demanded expanded powers for the island, an amnesty for independence fighters and recognition of the Corsican language as an official language. Supporters of the Corsica Libera party refused to attend the Assembly during the speech of the French president as a sign of protest. Later, in a statement published on the organization’s page on the social network, it was stated that the Corsican deputies were summoned to the chamber to “be present as ordinary spectators” during the “monologue” of the president. Nationalists suggested Macron’s autonomy proposal would amount to little more than “simple decentralization.”

In February, following his visit to Corsica, Macron spoke out against granting special status to the island, did not agree with the revision of the tax system for the island and rejected the idea of ​​​​recognizing the Corsican language as an official one.

Macron’s initiative is aimed at stopping separatist sentiments in Corsica, says Andrey Kudryavtsev, a senior researcher at the Center for European Studies at IMEMO RAS. According to him, today French society is highly atomized, private interests come to the fore, under these conditions Macron is trying to put forward an idea that unites the entire country.

By expanding the powers of the regions, the authorities are also trying to reorganize local government administration, continues leading researcher at the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Fedorov. “Paris, through appointed prefects, controls the regions, often without understanding local specifics, which reduces managerial efficiency. The thesis has long been popular in the country that there is Paris in the country, but there is only desert around,” the expert said.

In addition, according to Fedorov, Macron has a shaky political position in the country after the failed parliamentary elections in June 2022, and his popularity is declining due to economic problems. According to the results of the second round of voting, the pro-presidential center-right coalition “Together” gained only 38.6%, whereas in the 2017 elections it received 49%. “In this political configuration, the president fears new clashes in Corsica, which could potentially bring down his rating,” the expert says.

On the other hand, Kudryavtsev notes, this initiative will cause serious controversy in the country’s political circles. Many fear that granting administrative autonomy to Corsica will open a “Pandora’s box”, after which other provinces will demand similar rights for themselves. “One such area could be Brittany in northwestern France, where the Breton ethnic minority lives. Today, however, there is no problem of separatism. But there are no guarantees that it will not arise there. Previously, Breton activists, after a stubborn struggle, won from Paris the right to have signs and road signs in their language (Breton is one of the few Celtic languages ​​that have not yet become extinct, which is still spoken by about 200,000 people. – Vedomosti),” the expert noted.

However, according to Fedorov, at this stage, the expansion of administrative powers in Corsica and potentially in other regions will not lead to the growth of separatist tendencies: “Corsicans and other peoples inhabiting France feel themselves to be part of the French nation, and the political struggle of local nationalists is concentrated mainly around increasing the prestige of local languages.”