Mayotte: Draft law for the "refoundation" of the archipelago adopted by Senate committee

Supported by Overseas Minister Manuel Valls, who was questioned in the upper house on Tuesday, the text passed the Senate's Law Committee without difficulty, with widespread adoption.

The debates in the chamber are expected to be more intense during the public session, which will begin on Monday evening and end with a formal vote scheduled for Tuesday, May 27.

At the committee stage, senators approved almost all of the measures proposed by the government, which promises to take action to address the many challenges facing France's 101st department, the poorest.

"This programming law is absolutely essential for the reconstruction of the archipelago, where the passage of Chido (in December) has only increased the urgency," one of the text's co-rapporteurs, Horizons Senator Olivier Bitz, told AFP.

The text complements an emergency law for Mayotte, adopted by Parliament in mid-February, but which was limited to addressing the very initial reconstruction needs following the cyclone.

The government is now promising €3,2 billion in public investment between 2025 and 2031, earmarked for water, education, health, infrastructure and security.

The executive sets out its objectives for this period in a long report annexed to the draft law, which parliamentarians will be able to amend.

The senators included a requirement for the government to present a "multi-year forecast of investments" planned by 2025 by the end of 2031. This is a way of "giving perspective and confidence to the region, where there is a high level of distrust of the state," Mr. Bitz explained.

The senators also intend to establish a "monitoring committee" for this multi-year programming law, a request from the Socialist group, and will ask the government to present a mid-term report in 2028, with a debate in Parliament, to verify whether the State has kept its promises.

Another addition from the senators in committee was the possibility for the departmental prefect to personally manage all state services and public institutions until the end of the "restructuring" period. This mechanism was initially intended to be limited to the post-Chido crisis period.

However, some divisions are likely to emerge on the part of the text relating to immigration and security, with tougher conditions for access to residence, increased penalties for fraudulent recognition of paternity and the possibility of withdrawing residence permits from the parents of children considered to be a threat to public order.