After more than seven hours of debate over two days, the National Assembly adopted at 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, by 131 votes against 100, the bill aiming to transform the current European Collectivity of Alsace (CEA) into a collectivity with a special status that “exercises by right the powers that laws attribute to departments and the powers that laws attribute to regions” (article 2). In other words, the Assembly voted for Alsace to exit the Grand Est, a long-standing demand in Alsace as old as the merger of regions in 2015.
A significantly modified text
But let’s be clear right away, no one has left the Grand Est yet. This is a first reading vote, meaning the adopted text must now be examined by the Senate where it will be modified, that is certain. Once voted on, it will have to return to the National Assembly for a new reading.
The text originally submitted in September by the Haut-Rhin deputy Brigitte Klinkert (Renaissance) and cosigned by 96 deputies was greatly modified according to amendments, in the laws committee and in the hemicycle. It was first refocused on the Alsace case only. Its title has indeed been changed to “bill aiming to remove the European Collectivity of Alsace from the Grand Est region.”
Following an amendment by Bas-Rhin deputy Sandra Regol (Ecologists), the future collectivity will no longer be called European Collectivity of Alsace as indicated in the initial text, but simply “Alsace.”
On the government’s side, a proposal to organize a consultation of Grand Est residents was withdrawn on Wednesday because it presented a risk of unconstitutionality. The reason being that a law cannot, in the same text, create a collectivity and condition its creation on a consultation. Either consult first, or institute. This is also the question that will be raised for another amendment, adopted at the initiative of Sandra Regol as well, which provides for a local referendum in the Alsatian perimeter.
In addition, on Tuesday, the Assembly rejected the government’s amendment providing for ordinances to implement the reform concretely on the ground, in terms of organization or finances. In short, much remains to be done and the text is far from being stabilized. But for Brigitte Klinkert, “the unique Collectivity of Alsace is created. It was almost hopeless because the schedule was tight, Gabriel Attal provided us with decisive help.”
“A decisive step” for Frédéric Bierry, President of the CEA
For his colleague Charles Sitzenstuhl from Bas-Rhin (Renaissance), this is “a historic vote because it is the first time that the National Assembly, the representatives of the people, clearly act on Alsace’s exit from the Grand Est. The principle of separation is now a reality.” For Frédéric Bierry, President of the CEA, this is “a decisive step, meeting a strong democratic expectation, tirelessly carried by the Alsatians, local elected officials, and parliamentarians. The national representation now recognizes that Alsace is ready to go further: to exercise more responsibilities for a more legible, coherent, and closer public action.” On the other hand, for the President of the region Franck Leroy, “this vote does not consecrate either a completed reform or a credible solution for Alsace. It primarily consecrates a political communication object, carried out in confusion, regardless of institutional stability and territorial interest.”
The Haut-Rhin deputy Raphaël Schellenberger (non-affiliated) emphasizes the fact that “the National Assembly has expressed the possibility of creating a unique collectivity. But we must remain humble, this is a principle vote that says it is legitimate, but we do not yet have a practical law.”
The former senator and president of the movement for Alsace, André Reichardt, also believes that a huge step has been taken. And he adds that “in the Senate, we will have to continue the job and include in the text the things that are not there.” Starting with the prescription of the famous ordinances. Brigitte Klinkert and her cosignatories plan to meet the Alsatian senators as early as next week to begin the work. But before that, the text must be scheduled in the already busy Senate calendar. Frédéric Bierry and the Bas-Rhin senator Marc Séné have met with the President of the upper house Gérard Larcher last week, who seemed open to them. The objective is to ensure that the text is examined by the senators at the beginning of the fall. The path is still long, and the timeline is very short. Because, according to general opinion, for the reform to be implemented by the end of the current mandate in 2028, the law would need to be adopted before the next year’s presidential election. Otherwise, the reform could not be implemented until the end of the following regional mandate. For supporters of Alsace’s exit from the Grand Est, the race against time is now well underway.
