French senate rejects constitutional bill on autonomy for Corsica island

By Ilayda Cakirtekin

ISTANBUL (AA) - The French Senate rejected a constitutional bill on autonomy for the island of Corsica on Monday evening, marking a setback for a process launched in 2022, according to Les Echos newspaper.

The Senate voted against the bill by 181 votes to 134 following a debate in which the right-wing majority substantially rewrote the original text passed by the National Assembly.

The revisions included removing a reference to an “island community” from the proposed constitutional text and reducing the scope of the exceptional powers envisaged for Corsica.

Following the vote, Paul-Toussaint Parigi, a senator from the autonomist Femu a Corsica party, announced that his political movement would withdraw from the Beauvau process.

The process was launched in 2022 under former Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin at the request of President Emmanuel Macron with the aim of granting the island autonomous status within the French Republic.

"An archaic majority chose tonight to destroy a balanced political agreement that was painstakingly built and offered hope […]. Under these circumstances, we are withdrawing from the Beauvau process,” Parigi said.

Gilles Simeoni, mayor of Bastia and a prominent Corsican autonomist, said the island’s representatives had sought to find a political solution but faced opposition to the process.

The Corsican Nation Party (PNC) also announced that it was withdrawing its support for the process, criticizing what it described as the senators’ “contempt.”

The compromise had been approved by the Corsican Assembly in 2024 and subsequently received support in the National Assembly in June 2026.

However, the Senate’s rejection reportedly left the reform’s future uncertain, as constitutional amendments in France must be approved in identical terms by both houses of Parliament before being approved by three-fifths of lawmakers in a joint session of Parliament.

İlayda Çakırtekin