This is a first revision of the Constitution since 2008. The inclusion of the “guaranteed freedom” to resort to abortion, approved by Parliament meeting in Congress this Monday, March 4, remains the first to succeed under the presidency of Emmanuel Macron. But it is only one constitutional bill among others that the Head of State aims to complete before 2027, despite the absence of a majority in the Assembly.
The latest being the reform of land law in Mayotte, which requires a modification of the Constitution. To stop the migration crisis in this department of the Indian Ocean, Emmanuel Macron wants to put an end to land law. In doing so, anyone born in the department will no longer have French nationality.
“It is legitimate to ask this question, because the people of Mahor are suffering. They have also welcomed this proposal very positively, whatever their political sensitivities. We must stop the migratory phenomenon in Mayotte, at the risk of a collapse of public services on the island”, the Head of State justified himself on February 21, in an interview with Humanity.
An information mission on the subject, requested by the Republicans (LR), was created on Wednesday February 28 by the Laws Committee of the Assembly. A text will be submitted “before the summer”, for his part announced the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin. “We just have to not let ourselves be imprisoned by the LR and the RN who want to transpose this to the entire national soil,” underlines an advisor to the executive. If the executive should in fact have the support of the right and the far right, it will face firm opposition from the left.
Thawing of the electorate in New Caledonia
On the other hand, the reform project seems more concrete with regard to New Caledonia. The text in fact suggests the integration of some 25,000 voters, deprived of their right to vote since the freezing of the lists in the Nouméa agreement of 1998. Thus, this right will be extended to native Caledonians from the age of 18, as well as only to people present on the soil of the archipelago for at least 10 years.
The draft constitutional law was presented to the Council of Ministers on January 29. Its examination is already scheduled for March 26 in session in the Senate. It must be completed before the next provincial elections in New Caledonia, scheduled for December 2024. “This reform will not come into force […] that in the absence of a political agreement between local stakeholders concluded before July 1”, Matignon had however warned.
Autonomy of Corsica
Another revision in sight, also concerning a local authority: that on the autonomy of Corsica. Under negotiation since the summer of 2022, the institutional development of the Isle of Beauty has not yet been completed. Emmanuel Macron had indicated his wish, in October, to offer him a “form of autonomy in the Republic”. The form of registration is still far from being decided but the territory could benefit from “adaptation of standards” and “legislative and regulatory” competence in certain defined areas.
“The transfer of skills towards an autonomous Corsica would be carried out gradually, over fifteen or twenty years”, specified in an interview with The gallery the deputy for Corse-du-Sud and president of the Horizons group at the Palais Bourbon, Laurent Marcangeli. The latter also indicated that a text could be examined in April-May for a possible Congress this fall.
On February 26, Gérald Darmanin was rather optimistic, following a dinner bringing together the elected officials concerned. “We are moving, I hope, towards a consensus,” declared the Minister of the Interior, who arranged to meet Corsican elected officials “in two weeks”.