France proposes an “autonomy” to Corsica after riots on the island

France expressed its willingness to negotiate an “autonomy” for the island of Corsica, in the dialogue that Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin will begin this Wednesday with local officials after two weeks of tension.

“We are ready to reach autonomy” for Corsica, Darmanin told Corse Matin on Tuesday night. “The question is to know what this autonomy is. We need to discuss it. And this will take time,” he said.

The French government commissioned the Minister of the Interior to address the issue of the “future” of Corsica, in the context of demonstrations and riots on the island over the brutal prison attack on a Corsican independence scientist.

On 2 March, a prisoner from Arles (south) prison, presented as a “jihadist”, tried to suffocate Yvan Colonna, the most famous of the Corsican activists and convicted of the 1998 murder of Prefect Claude Erignac.

The aggression put again on the table a series of demands of the Corsican nationalists such as greater political autonomy, the approach of prisoners to prisons on the island, the recognition of the Corsican people or language,...

“It is urgent to build a real political solution with Corsica,” regional president, nationalist Gilles Simeoni, told AFP on Monday after Paris announced the start of a “cycle of discussions.”

Darmanin will open the cycle on Wednesday during a visit to Corsica, which nevertheless comes in the final stretch of President Emmanuel Macron's first term. The centrist is vying for re-election in the elections on April 10 and 24.

In the interview with Corse Matin, the Minister of the Interior said that candidate Macron will soon clarify his plans for the island, but the proposal to reach “autonomy” already earned him the criticism of his rivals.

The right-wing candidate, Valérie Pécresse, accused the president of “giving in to violence”, referring to the riots in Bastia, the second city on the Mediterranean island, which left 102 injured on Sunday, including 77 officers.

“I refuse to let Emmanuel Macron's cynical patronage break the integrity of French territory: Corsica must remain French,” tweeted far-right Marine Le Pen, just behind the president in the polls.

- “Relationship of mistrust” -

The proposal for greater autonomy to the island was welcomed by the center-left candidates. “This is an opportunity to break out of a relationship of mistrust between Corsica and the French State,” said environmentalist Yannik Jadot.

According to a recent Ifop poll, 53% of French people are in favour of greater autonomy for Corsica, even with the power to legislate. 60% reject possible independence from France.

In a country less decentralized than its neighbours Spain or Germany, Corsica has had a particular status since 1990, similar to that of the French territories in the Caribbean — Guadeloupe and Martinique — and Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean.

Since January 2018, Corsica has been considered a territorial community, which combines departmental and regional functions, and manages new competencies such as sport, transport, culture and the environment.

However, the nationalist leaders, in power since 2015, go further and ask, among other proposals, for resident status to acquire property on the island and greater scope for fiscal maneuver.

Before the dialogue, Paris made some symbolic decisions to calm the mood, but key to an island that for four decades was shaken by the attacks of the National Liberation Front of Corsica (FNLC).

The French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, withdrew a special statute for Colonna and two other members of the “Erignac Command”, Pierre Alessandri and Alain Ferrandi, paving the way for their transfer to Corsican prisons.

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