The head of the French government, François Bayrou, stated that he would present a new constitutional draft on the status of Corsica to the parliament without taking into account the proposals of the State Council. The draft amendments to the constitution on granting the island "autonomy within the Republic" will be presented to the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. This was reported by France Info, writes UNN.
I advocate for adherence to the agreement on exiting the crisis, proposed by the president and elected representatives of all persuasions in the Corsican Assembly. If we promised a political compromise, we must adhere to it.
The latter, according to the law, is the government's chief legal advisor and conducts expertise on future decisions. The Council proposed removing the mention of "Corsican community" because it contradicts the principle of "a single and indivisible people of France," which is enshrined in the Constitution. The Council also wants to limit the range of areas in which Corsica could make its own decisions. In particular, to exclude the possibility of independent regulation of land issues and language policy.
According to experts, Bayrou believes that the changes proposed by the State Council will destroy trust between the central government and the island. Over the past year, the text of the reform has been agreed upon with the President of the Executive Council of Corsica, Gilles Simeoni, and the Corsican Assembly.
After the introduction of changes to the Constitution, Corsica will remain a "territorial community," but will have a special status recognized in the Constitution and expanded powers that have no analogues in mainland France.
The constitutional review was initiated in 2022 by Gérald Darmanin, then Minister of the Interior, at the request of President Emmanuel Macron, to end the violence on the island caused by the death of Yvan Colonna in prison. This activist advocated for the island's independence.
Recall
New Caledonia, an island region in the Pacific Ocean, reached an agreement with France on expanding autonomy, gaining the status of a "state integrated into France." This decision was the result of ten days of negotiations between the French government, Caledonian separatists, and loyalists.