Gérald Darmanin receives island elected officials about the island’s autonomy project

The Corsican executive is invited to Place Beauvau on Monday for a decisive meeting in order to move forward on the island’s autonomy status promised by the President of the Republic.

A decisive dinner for the future of Corsica. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin receives Corsican elected officials on Monday February 26 evening to move forward with the autonomy status promised by Emmanuel Macron last September. The Head of State plans to initiate a reform of the Constitution to include the specificity of the island. Monday evening’s meeting is decisive because the process has never gone so far towards autonomy and it could be interrupted at any time.

It’s the final straight and the pressure is maximum for the Corsican elected officials received at Place Beauvau. We need the same writing, on the government side and on the Corsican side, to define what “autonomy in Corsica”, “autonomy in the Republic”, according to Emmanuel Macron’s formulas last September. The Minister of the Interior, on the front line in this matter, presents his version Monday evening to Corsican elected officials. Everyone is invited, except the nationalists. A version that will be “amendable”. The Corsicans also come with their copy, which is a consensus between the political forces of the island.

A consensus difficult to find

Emmanuel Macron gave them six months to find this consensus. After months of procrastination and a final push from Gérald Darmanin in Corsica-Morning on February 16, the elected islanders reached agreement on the thread, at the end of last week. They are unanimous on several points, notably on the terms to be included in the Constitution: the recognition of a “island, historical, linguistic and cultural community having developed over the centuries a strong and unique link with its land: the island of Corsica”.

The terms are precise, it may seem anecdotal but the idea is to enable the status of the language to evolve, that is to say to give more space to the Corsican language, alongside French. Also change the status of resident to facilitate access to property on the island.

And a few more blockages

The Corsican language in the administration and resident status are tense points for the executive. And even between Corsican elected officials, there are divisions and differences. The nationalists want to go further and obtain the possibility of voting for laws on the island, so that they can be adapted to Corsica. But the right-wing forces oppose it. And the executive recalls that to be able to modify the Constitution, it is not only necessary to compromise with Corsican elected officials, but also with the right-wing senators, the majority in the congress who will have to be brought together at the very end of the process.