Corsica autonomy rules approved

PARIS, France -- Controversial plans to curb separatist violence in Corsica by allowing more independence have been approved by the French National Assembly.

The Mediterranean island -- which has been under French control since the 1700s -- has been plagued by more than 20 years of separatist violence.

When the bill was first proposed right-wingers called it a surrender to the violent extremists in Corsica.

The bill, presented by the left-wing government of Prime Minister Lionel Jospin, will give Corsica's elected regional assembly special powers.

These include allowing the island to adapt some French laws voted by the national parliament in Paris. It also allows island schools to teach the Corsican language.

It won support in its first reading from both government and opposition benches and passed by 287 to 217 votes.

President Jacques Chirac's conservative RPR party and many deputies from the centrist UDF party voted against the bill, while the Communists, who are part of Jospin's coalition, abstained.

The bill will now go to the Senate upper house and the constitutional council, France's highest legal authority, for approval before becoming law early next year.

The controversial bill had sparked widespread debate with Interior Minister Daniel Vaillant saying last week that he would be making separate proposals for a transfer of more powers to regional level throughout France.

The announcement prompted the right-wing opposition to back the bill, after previously saying they opposed it because it did not extend to mainland regions with strong regional identities such as Brittany and Alsace.

Former president Valery Giscard d'Estaing told France Inter radio on Tuesday: "From the start, we believed that the bill on Corsica should be part of a reflection on how we distribute power in France."

He had described the bill as "state abdication in the face of violence" when it was first announced by Jospin last July.