According to an Ifop survey, the French population in metropolitan France questioned about “the adhesion to the independence process of New Caledonia” are 43% in favor of the objective “pursuing the trajectory of decolonization of New Caledonia”. 38% “don’t know” and 19% disapprove. If one refers to the responses of people who have an opinion on the subject, the rate rises to 69% of respondents agreeing with the “decolonization trajectory,” against 31% in disagreement.
Ifop has just published a survey on “The French facing the challenges of regionalism and decentralization” for the federation of autonomist and regionalist parties of metropolitan France and the Overseas. The survey was conducted with a national sample of 9,689 people, representative of the population living in metropolitan France, aged 18 and over. The interviews were carried out through an online questionnaire from September 25 to 30.
A question was asked about “the adhesion to the process of independence of New Caledonia”: “In general, do you approve or disapprove the objective of ‘pursuing the decolonization trajectory of New Caledonia which could range from a New Caledonia state embedded in the French Constitution to that of a sovereign state by referendum?’.” Among the French in metropolitan France questioned, 38% don’t know, 19% disapprove this objective, and 43% approve it. If one refers to the responses of those who have an opinion on the subject, the rate rises to 69% of respondents agreeing with the decolonization trajectory, vs 31% disagreeing.
Approval rates, according to the voting intentions of respondents for 2027, stand at 71% for the Greens, 68% for La France insoumise (LFI), which outpace Place publique (47%) and Renaissance (46%). The rate for the National Rally (RN) is 36%. French people from overseas origins living in metropolitan France are 47% in favor of the New Caledonia independence process, behind the Catalans (58%) or Corsicans (50%). Another finding of the survey: “59% of people whose father is of non-European origin are in favor of the New Caledonia independence process,” reports Ifop.
To the question “Would you be completely in favor, fairly in favor, fairly opposed or strongly opposed to the French political system evolving toward a federation where each region could adopt its own laws and norms in certain areas?”, 58% of metropolitan France residents are in favor of a process tending toward regional federalism, while 13% are strongly opposed. The level of support reaches 67% among RN voters, and 54% among LFI voters.
On the defense of regional identities and languages, 86% of metropolitan French are in favor of teaching in schools the history of their region as part of general history, 65% support ratification of the European Charter for regional or minority languages, and 64% favor offering each student the option to complete their entire schooling in a regional language, with parity in time with French or in immersion. Ifop notes that “74% of LFI sympathizers are in favor of schooling entirely in a regional language, with parity or immersion.”
Furthermore, 48% of the French believe that a policy promoting regional languages would be an opportunity for France’s diversity. 54% think that defending regional languages and the gains of decentralization will be an important issue in their vote in the presidential election (61% among LFI, 59% and 58% respectively for Renaissance and the RN). This rate is 53% among ultramarine residents living in metropolitan France. The inhabitants of the overseas territories were not surveyed on these questions.
| Created in 1994, Régions et peuples solidaires (RPS ou R&PS) is a political party that federates, at the level of France, organizations defined by the Ministry of the Interior as regionalist. The currents represented there all align with federalism and with a strong ecological sensitivity. Its president is François Alfonsi, from Femu a Corsica (FaC). |
| À ce jour, cette fédération politique rassemble des partis autonomistes et fédéralistes, membres fondateurs, membres ou membres associés, de Bretagne, de Corse, du Pays Basque, de Savoie, d’Occitanie ou encore d’Alsace. |
