As the constitutional bill granting autonomy to Corsica comes before the Senate (October 21, 2026), and on the eve of the Fall Conference of Régions et Peuples Solidaires (October 22–25, 2026), Ifop is releasing the largest survey ever conducted on regionalism and decentralization in France. Conducted among a national sample of nearly 10,000 people (9,689 French citizens) and supplemented by a specific survey of 516 Corsicans, this study measures both public opinion in each of the regions with a strong sense of identity (Corsica, Alsace, Brittany, Savoy, the Basque Country, and Northern Catalonia) and the views of each electorate six months ahead of the presidential election. Its results paint a picture of a France where support for Corsican autonomy is growing significantly, where nearly two-thirds of the French public want senators to pass the bill, and where the demand for regional autonomy, territorial differentiation, and recognition of regional languages and identities has reached unprecedented levels. Ten years after the redrawing of regional boundaries, this in-depth analysis confirms a French paradox: that of a historically centralized country where a desire for a decentralized, differentiated, or even federal Republic is now asserted by a majority across party lines.
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KEY FIGURES FROM THE STUDY
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Corsica, Alsace, Kanaky… French citizens open to changes in the status of certain territories
1- As the bill granting autonomy to Corsica is being debated in the Senate (October 21), public support for Corsican autonomy is becoming increasingly clear: 57% of French people say they support the Corsican Collectivity having full and unrestricted autonomy, up from 52% in 2025 (+5 points).
2- Specifically, about six in ten French people approve of the bill’s main points, namely the constitutional recognition of a Corsican island community with its own distinct characteristics (60%) and the ability of the Corsican Collectivity to set rules in areas falling under its jurisdiction (65%).
3- For a majority of the population, this type of special status should not be reserved solely for the “Island of Beauty”: 58% of French people support other regions besides Corsica benefiting from a status that reinforces their unique characteristics, compared to 43% in 2001.
4- French support for Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s proposal on the future of “Le Caillou” is strong: two out of three French people (67%) approve of the idea of “granting independence to New Caledonia-Kanaky,” particularly among voters for Mélenchon (85%) and Tondelier (82%).
Overwhelming support among Corsicans for autonomy, on the eve of the Senate vote
On the island, support for autonomous status is overwhelming: 77% of Corsicans say they favor Corsica obtaining full and effective autonomous status. 66% of the 516 Corsicans surveyed by telephone by Ifop (from September 28 to October 3, 2026) want senators to vote in favor of the constitutional bill to be considered starting October 21. There is virtually unanimous support for the island’s demands, whether they are included in the bill (87% in favor of recognizing a Corsican island community, 82% support the Corsican regional authority’s ability to adapt certain laws) or excluded from it by Paris (79% support the co-official status of the Corsican language, 72% support resident status).
A principle of national unity with variable geometry: more liberal for the overseas territories
69% of French people support autonomy for overseas territories that request it via referendum—a higher percentage than for Corsican autonomy. Republican indivisibility thus appears to function as a norm of proximity: the more distant and postcolonial the territory, the more willing public opinion is to let it go. The wording regarding the goal of “continuing New Caledonia’s path toward decolonization,” however, causes more confusion: 38% are undecided on this issue. Against a backdrop of deep mistrust toward distant institutions, a logic of differentiated decentralization goes hand in hand with a desire to strengthen regional power
5- Against a backdrop of distrust toward centers of power, the region appears more than ever to be the level best suited to make decisions: 74% of French people want decision-making powers to reside in the regions in the future, a 28-point increase compared to 2002.
6- The results also reflect a growing acceptance of the sharing of powers between the state and the regions, based on the need to adapt rules to the diversity of local issues: 58% of French people support “the French political system evolving toward a form of federalism where each region could adopt its own laws and standards in certain areas.”
Ten years after the regional redistricting took effect (January 1, 2016), it remains a difficult pill to swallow, particularly in regions that have merged
7- Dissatisfaction with the regional redistricting passed in 2015 remains as strong as ever among the French public as a whole (41% of French people are dissatisfied with it, compared to 43% in 2015), particularly throughout the Grand Est region (55%) —and more specifically in Alsace (65%)—as well as in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (52%) and Nouvelle-Aquitaine (49%).
8- In this context, the redistricting of the southern regions (Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Occitanie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, and PACA) is widely supported by the French public (65%) and by those most directly affected (66% of residents in Occitanie), while also going hand in hand with clear support among the French public for the creation of local authorities with special status in the Basque Country (56%) and Northern Catalonia (54%).
9- All other demands related to regional boundaries are also supported. Thus, in the East, the creation of a new Alsace Region is being called for more than ever by the people of Alsace—78% are in favor, compared to 68% in 2019—but it also has the support of the rest of the population of the Grand Est region (58%).
10- In the West, the possibility of incorporating Loire-Atlantique into Brittany is also proving increasingly popular. Support among Bretons for a return to the borders of the Duchy of Brittany is in fact significantly higher today (56%) than in 2012 (44%), driven by residents of Loire-Atlantique (62%) as well as those of administrative Brittany (52%).
Alsace, host of the R&PS Fall University, is at the forefront of all regionalist demands
As Régions et Peuples Solidaires holds its Fall University in Colmar (October 22–25, 2026) at the invitation of the Alsatian party Unser Land, Alsace emerges as the region where the demand for institutional recognition is strongest: 78% of Alsatians want the creation of a new Alsace Region separate from the Grand Est region (+10 points since 2019), 65% say they are dissatisfied with the 2015 redistricting, 90% support maintaining local autonomy, and 71% of residents of Alsace and Moselle want to be able to shape it themselves. Residents of Alsace-Moselle are also among the most likely to want decision-making powers to reside within the regions (82%, and as high as 88% in Alsace), to support a shift toward regional federalism (68%), and to approve Corsica’s autonomy (65%, and 68% in Alsace). These Alsatian demands resonate beyond regional borders: 59% of all French people support maintaining specific local laws in Alsace and Moselle; 56% support the creation of a new Alsace Region outside the Grand Est; and 53% support the proposal to “remove Alsace from the Grand Est region to make it a fully independent entity.”
There is broad support for the region’s history and language, rooted in a heritage-based perspective where territorialidentities complement rather than compete with one another
11- Ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages also enjoys strong public support (65%), particularly among those on the left of the political spectrum.
12- The implementation of co-official status for languages, however, elicits more divided opinions: just over one in two French people (54%) support the Green Party’s proposal to “make regional languages (…) official languages, on the same footing as French, in their region.”
13- For many, attachment to their region does not necessarily conflict with their attachment to the nation: the majority of French people (52%) say they are “just as attached to their region as they are to France.”
Region versus Nation: Intertwined Rather Than Competing Identities
Reported by one in four French people (25%), a strong attachment to one’s region is particularly pronounced at both ends of the political spectrum, whether measured by the ideological positioning indicator—35% on the far right and 44% on the far left, compared to 21% in the center—or the indicator of current party affiliation—31% among RN supporters and 34% among PCF supporters, compared to 12% among supporters of the centrist bloc—or even the indicator of voting intentions in the next presidential election: 29% of Le Pen supporters and 27% of Mélenchon supporters consider themselves more attached to their region than to France. In regions with a strong sense of identity, this strong attachment to the region is significantly more widespread than in the rest of the country: 36% in historic Brittany (and 40% in administrative Brittany), 38% in Alsace, and 37% in Savoie.
The perspective of François Alfonsi, President of Régions et Peuples Solidaires:
The results of the Ifop poll on regionalist demands speak for themselves. Corsicans, Alsatians, Savoyards, Bretons, Occitans, Basques, and Catalans want their distinct identities to be recognized. Everywhere, their demands are gaining ground and are meeting with growing support among the French population as a whole. The same trends are at work in the overseas territories. In a healthy democracy, these aspirations—confirmed poll after poll—should spark a fruitful political debate. In France, however, they are swept under the Jacobin rug or systematically demonized by constitutional fundamentalists who have, in particular, railed against Corsican autonomy. It is high time for France to move beyond its Jacobin stance and heed the democratic demands arising from the diversity of its territories. This is the growing sentiment among a majority of the French people, and it is the urgent demand of these territories, whose history, language, and culture have until now been obscured in the name of a uniform and artificial vision of French identity.
The perspective of François Kraus, director of the “Politics/Current Events” division at Ifop:
Ten years after the regional redistricting took effect (January 1, 2016), this survey paints a picture of a France where there is a need for territorial and institutional recognition of regional identities, as well as a demand for general decentralization. The demand for local autonomy is widespread and transcends party lines, but it is fueled by a rejection of Paris. This support for differentiated decentralization observed in the survey—“‘less Paris,’ rejection of the ‘redistricting,’ support for the principle of ‘federalism’—appears to be driven by a dynamic of rejection of the central government, fueled in part by widespread distrust of institutions and the rise of protest votes (RN, LFI). For on nearly every issue, these two protest blocs emerge as the most regionalist, while the central bloc is the most unitarist. With six months to go before the next election, this study also has the merit of highlighting just how much certain traditionally Jacobin parties—such as the RN—are now at odds with their electorate…
