Reporting
European elections: Martinique keeps its distance from the vote
On June 8, the French West Indies will be called to vote in the European elections. An election that has never generated much passion in the region. However, some parties are trying to mobilize more this year, like the head of the La France insoumise list, Manon Aubry, who made her first campaign trip to Martinique.
Manon Aubry hopes this year to do much better than in 2019, when she came in third position in Martinique. © Aurélien Devernoix / RFI
By: Aurélien Devernoix
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From our special correspondent in Fort-de-France,
“
Mobilize yourself!
» This Thursday, March 21, the slogan is on everyone's lips and their allies during their public meeting at the Madiana cinema in Schœlcher, on the outskirts of Fort-de-France. At the entrance, a La France insoumise activist calls out to the spectators: he encourages them to take and distribute leaflets around them calling for registration on the electoral lists. Nothing innocent in the maneuver, Jean-Luc Mélenchon collected nearly 53% of the votes during the first round of the 2022 presidential election in Martinique and 56% in Guadeloupe.
The Insoumis therefore see in the Antilles a precious reservoir of votes for
the Europeans
and their head of the list, Manon Aubry, the opportunity to do much better than in 2019, where she came in third position behind the presidential camp and the Rally national. “
Don’t leave this election to Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen
,” chants the candidate from the platform, “
talk about it to those around you, your neighbors, your colleagues, at family meals, to your friends, even if it’s not exciting
.” The MEP is lucid, she knows the figures: in 2019, participation was around 15% in the Antilles.
Issues perceived as distant
The problem is that for many voters in the Antilles, these elections are seen as a vote with little impact on their daily lives. In 2019, only one in six voters went to the polls. “
Europe is experienced as something even further away than France
,” regrets local MP Jean-Philippe Nilor, from the Péyi'A party, allied to LFI. “
European funds, for example, we know that they exist, but their mechanisms and their effects remain difficult to perceive.
»
Particularly illuminating illustration in agriculture: only 20 to 30% of local farmers receive European aid compared to nearly 80% in France. “
The
CAP
system is not adapted to Martinican agriculture
,” laments Bertrand Sainte-Rose, market gardener in Saint-Esprit, a rural commune on the island. While French farms are on average 70 hectares, in Martinique, they do not exceed four hectares. Even if you complete the long and tedious documents necessary to receive European aid, it would only amount to a few hundred euros per year. Bertrand Sainte-Rose thus renounced it.
An economy very oriented towards Europe
Also blurs the battle over free trade treaties. The Antilles are watching the debate on Mercosur with both fear and interest. The European Union has been negotiating with Latin American countries for 24 years to open up their respective markets. Large banana and sugar cane farmers see this as an existential danger with the risk of increased competition. But among the population, opinions are divided. Peggy, company director, sees this as an opportunity “
to reduce pressure on prices
”, particularly in food, where they are 40% higher than those in France.
Also read: Why the agreement between Mercosur and the European Union is fueling the anger of farmers
“
We could diversify our sources of supply and also improve our carbon footprint
,” believes Peggy. European standards drastically limit the possibilities of imports from Latin America or the United States, directing supplies towards distant Europe. “
There is no question, however, of going backwards on health rules
,” continues Peggy. On the farmers' side, we also complain about the shortage of labor and the near impossibility of bringing in agricultural workers from Haiti or Dominica on a long-term basis.
The temptation to look in a new direction
Could the lack of interest in the European elections therefore be a response to Europe's own lack of interest in the West Indies? There was indeed an exception, according to Jean-Philippe Nilor, during the Covid crisis. “
Suddenly, we were at the center of lucrative markets for pharmaceutical companies, organized by Europe
,” denounces the MP. The health crisis was marked by a very strong reluctance to vaccinate in the West Indies, and the standoff with the State on this occasion left bad memories.
Carmen Frêche is a long-time Insoumise activist: for her, Europe has difficulty integrating into the daily lives of Martinicans. “
Our roads are, for example, in very poor condition, we have water and electricity cuts, where is Brussels’ action on these aspects?
», she asks. At her side, her husband Georges adds: “
We are not treated on an equal footing with the rest of France, even though our needs are very great.
»
A distance and a feeling of double standards which also plays on the question of identity. Hélène, a young employee who came to attend the La France insoumise meeting as a curious person, may well see the economic and political interests of belonging to the Union, but she claims to “
feel less European and more Caribbean.
» A feeling which is reflected in the choices of voters: during the 2022 legislative elections, three of the four elected deputies come from the independence movement, the last coming from the ranks of the autonomists.
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