Breton reunification moves a step closer

[Erwann]

Breton Reunification Moves a Step Closer

MANX — The French Parliament has voted in favour of a change in the law that could herald the reunification of Brittany.

In the evening of Wednesday 21st December 2011 the French Parliament voted in favour of allowing residents of a department to hold a referendum without the agreement of other residents of the region.

The change in the law could potentially mean that residents of the Loire Atlantique department, which forms part of the historic nation of Brittany and includes the historic Breton capital city of Naoned/Nantes, will be able to vote in favour of unification without having to convince others in the region to do the same. In 1941 the Loire Atlantique department was merged with the French Pays de la Loire region by the Fascist Vichy Government, which it has remained a part of ever since.

It has been reported that there is widespread support among the people of the Loire Atlantique department for reunification with Brittany and similarly people in Brittany are in favour of this piece of their historic territory returning to them. Within the last decade in particular there has been a growing movement among activists to raise the profile of the campaign to reunify Brittany. In June this year a mass demonstration took place in Naoned that attracted 5000 people. The aim of the protesters was to apply pressure on the French presidential candidates, in time for elections in 2012, to come out in support of Breton unification. In June 2010 the Breton Regional Council voted in favour of a motion on the `territorial collective' of Brittany, which recognized the Loire Atlantique department as part of the traditional territory of Brittany.

Currently the Pays de la Loire region has approximately 3.5 million residents, with 1.3 million of these people inhabiting the Loire Atlantique Department. The new law could potentially mean that the 1.3 million residents of the Loire Atlantique Department can vote on whether they want their department to return to Breton control, without the approval of the other 2.2 million residents of the Pays de la Loire region. For the Loire Atlantique electorate to be able to decide whether their department is reunited with Brittany, without having to convince the rest of the Pays de la Loire region is a significant development, because traditionally the inhabitants of the Pays de la Loire region outside of the Loire Atlantique Department have been against reunification.

Naoned is an economically strong region in its own right and currently the capital of the Pays de la Loire region. The president of the Pays de la Loire region, who is one of the biggest opponents of reunification, said he was surprised by the vote. A close advisor to French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Franck Louvrier, said he was pleased by the draft amendment, arguing that the idea of giving the Loire Atlantique Department back to Brittany was decidedly favourable and welcomed the development, which he said was a democratic move.

The draft text of the bill will now need to go before the French parliament's upper house, the Senate, for approval. For comment or clarification on this news item in the first instance contact: Rhisiart Tal-e-bot, General Secretary, Celtic League:

Source : http://www.agencebretagnepresse.com/fetch.php?id=24393

[Zephyr]

Let's hope this isn't just a smart move to dilute breton identity by joining to Brittany a region that has lost its character in favour of french hexagonism.

[Erwann]

I don't think so. Bretons from this region are more aware about how works France. According to polls, they tend to be more autonomist or independentist. But due to this separation, they got lot of people from Vendée or Maine who don't care about this issue, the reunification could probably stop this.

If this reunification really happens, it will occur only good things. Militants will focus their time on the Breton language and a kind of autonomy (like Scotland or Catalonia). Also, Brittany should be more important economically and being less dependent from Paris, it would make more sense for Bretons to regain our autonomy.

From that I read recently : the administrative region of Brittany represents 4.7% of the French GDP and her population represents 4.43% of French population. If you include the region of Nantes it's 6.6% of French GDP and 6.1% of French population.

[Zephyr]

Will this map become a reality?

[Erwann]

At least for Brittany it could be the case.
For the others parts of this articial region called "Pays de la Loire", I don't know how it will happen.

[Dussander]

(2012 Mar 31 19:44)Erwann Wrote:  If this reunification really happens, it will occur only good things. Militants will focus their time on the Breton language and a kind of autonomy (like Scotland or Catalonia). Also, Brittany should be more important economically and being less dependent from Paris, it would make more sense for Bretons to regain our autonomy.

What's the current status of Breton language? Is it taught in schools or spoken by a larger populace?

[Erwann]

(2012 Mar 31 21:09)Dussander Wrote:  What's the current status of Breton language?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breton_lang...ial_status

Quote:Is it taught in schools or spoken by a larger populace?

There are about 200.000 current speakers, most of them are old though. It's taught in some schools but it's limited :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Breton_language#Education


Today, there was the largest ever co-ordinated demonstrations for linguistic rights in Brittany, south-Flanders, Alsace-Moselle, Basque country, Occitania, north-Catalonia, Savoie and Corsica. I will post an article about it later.

[Treffie]

As long a Toubon Law exists, I have my doubts for the future of the Breton Language

[Albion]

Good. And it's nice to see Normandy unified in this idea too.

[Tintagell]

Thank you for this interesting article, Erwann!

I really hope the Breton language survives. The last I've checked, it was one of the least spoken Celtic languages (though I could be wrong). It's very refreshing to see that there are Bretons that are very aware of their heritage and want it to live on.

I've never really studied into Brittany that much, but I was surprised to see all of the territory that one belonged to it!