The Brief – New Caledonia: Another stone in Macron’s shoe

What a difference a few weeks can make. Until recently, this was a standard description of New Caledonia: A French territory comprising dozens of islands in the South Pacific, known for its palm-lined beaches, marine-life-rich lagoon, and a barrier reef that surrounds the main island, Grand Terre, a major scuba-diving destination.

The capital, Nouméa, is home to French-influenced restaurants and luxury boutiques selling Parisian fashions.

While the paragraphs above are designed to encourage tourists to book holidays there, as protests and riots continue, hundreds of foreigners who live there have only one wish these days – to leave.

France, Australia, and New Zealand are organising flights to extract hundreds of people from the local airport which is currently closed for commercial flights.

New Caledonia is currently in a state of emergency, declared by France, with a nationwide curfew between 6 pm and 6 am. Parts of the paradise island look like scorched earth, while barricades have turned some parts of the capital into no-go zones.

Violence erupted on 13 May as the French legislature in Paris debated amending the French Constitution and changing New Caledonia’s voter lists.

The National Assembly approved a bill that, among other changes, will allow residents who have lived in New Caledonia for at least 10 years to cast ballots in provincial elections.

Opponents fear the measure will benefit pro-France politicians in New Caledonia and further marginalise the indigenous population, the Kanaks, who once suffered from strict segregation policies and discrimination at the hands of the French administration.

Supermarkets and car dealerships were looted, and vehicles and businesses were burned. Clashes erupted between supporters and opponents of independence. Between 13 and 18 May, six people were killed, including two gendarmes, and another 64 police officers were injured.

The looting and destruction reportedly cost more than €200 million in damage.

A long story

New Caledonia was annexed by France in 1853 and officially became a French overseas territory in 1946. Since 1986, the United Nations Committee on Decolonisation has included New Caledonia on the UN list of non-self-governing territories.

New Caledonia is a global source of nickel, used in batteries and other everyday necessities.

President Emmanuel Macron arrived for a hastily arranged visit to New Caledonia on Thursday (23 May). Reuters quoted Macron’s aides as saying he has no preconceived plan and will talk with all parties about politics and reconstruction in the wake of the riots but is unlikely to rush into any major decision.

In the past, Macron facilitated dialogue between pro-independence and pro-France factions in New Caledonia. He has also faced criticism for his heavy-handedness. The efforts culminated in a contested 2021 referendum, the last of three, in which New Caledonians voted to remain part of France by 96% against 4%.

The referendum took place amid a boycott from the indigenous Kanak population, whose leaders had called for the vote to be postponed following a large-scale COVID-19 outbreak that heavily affected them.

Nothing in the world happens in a vacuum, and several countries—Russia, China, and Azerbaijan, to name but a few—have an interest in destabilising France. Russia has done it very successfully in Africa, and China has a bigger interest as it continues to build its influence in the South Pacific.

France is the EU’s leading country, and not only because it is its only member with a UN Security Council seat and the only one with a nuclear arsenal.

It is also the only country with a global presence, with its overseas territories of Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, La Réunion, Mayotte, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, and the French Southern and Antarctic Territories.

After the setbacks France suffered in Africa, Macron is well-advised to find a quick fix—and possibly a sustainable one—for the New Caledonia troubles. Although the troubles may have an anti-colonial character, they clearly play into the hands of ambitious geopolitical players.

And they further dent Macron’s position at home, where he is trailing the far-right in opinion polls.

The EU doesn’t need to take a position – this is an internal issue for France.

New Caledonia is not a part of the European Union’s territory; however, its status as a French Overseas Territory enables New Caledonia to be associated with the EU.

Fixing the situation is in the interest of France and the EU. Some EU money could help to fix many things.

The Roundup

If you are interested in the final electoral debate between the European Union’s political families, you can follow it in this live blog.

Identity cards, passports, excerpts of criminal records, and work experience documents were among the personal data of European Parliament employees compromised in a data breach, according to an internal email sent on Wednesday and seen by Euractiv.

The European Commission fined US confectionery giant Mondelez €337.5 million for engaging in anti-competitive behaviour that artificially inflated food prices and exacerbated the cost-of-living crisis across the EU, the EU executive said on Thursday.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s initiative to tackle polarisation in the agricultural sector is expected to reach its conclusions by September, but sources close to the talks told Euractiv that stakeholders are still not close to defining concrete agreements.

Ahead of June’s EU elections and a new European Commission, France and Germany are looking to set the agenda with a joint paper calling for adopting a European Tech Deal and forceful reforms to slash red tape.

‘The European Health Union: Acting together for people’s health’ is how the Commission summed up its last five years of actions in health. The EU went “from firefighter to architect”, in the words of Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas, but not everyone is convinced the current architecture is optimal.

To stay on top of EU politics and election news, don’t miss this week’s EU Politics Decoded.

Look out for…

• Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič chairs 8th High-Level Meeting of European Battery Alliance on Friday.
• Competitiveness Council (Internal market and industry) on Friday.
• Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni participates in the G7 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting in Stresa, Italy, on Thursday-Saturday.

Views are the author’s

[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic/Alice Taylor]