There could be no losers in this story of Corsican autonomy.
Not the local elected officials invited to Place Beauvau Monday evening for a long dinner.
They could have feared being accused of not playing the island's interest in the event of failure.
And certainly not the Minister of the Interior, who could have been criticized for a lack of investment in a file which he took care to attribute to the President of the Republic.
Just ten days ago, Gérald Darmanin decided to step up the pace to try to find an agreement on this constitutional reform project of autonomy for Corsica.
Even if it means offending elected officials who asked for a little more time.
The last jolts of this eternal file, it must be said, left certain doubts hovering.
Because the work to be done to get everyone to agree seemed, to say the least, titanic.
Friday evening, Corsican elected officials welcomed real progress.
In a “solemn political declaration”, without legal value, they had pleaded in unison for the “constitutional recognition of an
island community, historical, linguistic and cultural, having developed over the centuries a strong and singular link with its land : the island of Corsica
”.
Without being able to hide real fundamental differences, for example on the degree of “autonomy” that could be granted to the island, particularly from a normative point of view.
A “singularity in a status of autonomy”
The idea of including autonomy in the Constitution did not pose a problem for Gérald Darmanin.
Following the dinner with the elected representatives of Corsica, he recognized the uniqueness of the island.
A “singularity in a status of autonomy”, he said.
It remained to know what to put in this “singularity” and in this “autonomy” project.
On this point, the executive council of Corsica led by Gilles Simeoni decided to push the negotiations further.
Also read: What is the autonomy of Corsica?
Thus, and without obtaining the unanimity of the islanders, he demanded the implementation of a normative power of a legislative nature.
“There cannot be autonomy without legislative power.
It’s a corollary,” he explained to our colleagues at
La Tribune Dimanche
.
Far from the framework envisaged a priori by the executive.
Before the meeting, an advisor mentioned the project of submitting “writings”, very “general” and “generic”, for the consideration of Corsican elected officials, supposed to reframe everything and move the issue forward.
After several hours of debate, it seems that Gérald Darmanin has not only accepted the idea of Corsica's capacity to adapt to regulatory and legislative power.
It also validated that of a “legislative autonomy” specific to the community.
This position delighted Gilles Simeoni.
“It is established, in the current state of the text, that Corsica will be endowed with a status of autonomy within the Republic,” he declared after the dinner.
Such specificity could until now seem like a red line.
Because the LR elected officials also expressed reservations on this subject.
A trend far from trivial, the votes of the LR, the majority in the Senate, being essential to have the constitutional reform adopted.
“Gilles Simeoni goes very far in his proposals and it is obvious that we will not be able to follow him as he stands,” confided the head of senators LR Bruno Retailleau a few hours before dinner.
I don't know his real intentions but he is defending a strategy which pushes for the independence of Corsica.
»
The end of the “Beauvau process”?
The Minister of the Interior, who spoke to the press about "five major advances", did not, however, grant a free hand to Corsican elected officials.
The power to “make its own standards”, in “very specific areas of the law”, can only be done within the scope decided by the organic law (and therefore not guaranteed by the Constitution), and only after advice from the Council of State and control of the Constitutional Council, he assured.
He also did not commit to resolving all the debates, referring to the Élysée the question of whether the autonomy of Corsica should be included in an entire title of the Constitution or in a simple article.
A subject considered important for nationalists.
Gérald Darmanin did not hide his “legitimate and calm annoyance” when he decided to accelerate the pace of discussions in mid-February and take control again.
An attitude which was strongly criticized at the time by Gilles Simeoni.
“Autonomy must be the collective work of the Corsicans and not a framework granted and built by the State,” he said.
This Monday evening, the Minister of the Interior wanted to show that the “Beauvau process”, as it was called at Place Beauvau, was a success.
There remain outstanding points, such as that of resident status or the co-officiality of the Corsican language.
Gérald Darmanin will relaunch the same format in two weeks.
But in the end, it will be up to the president to conclude.