But just for a moment imagine Corsica did secede. Take the island s economy. Its per capita GDP is already the lowest in metropolitan France. Russian bankers, he predicts, would come to deal with their money as they do in the Caymans and Cyprus. And then there are the subsidies from Paris these would stop.
Alternative scenarios are more optimistic.
The separatists main grudge against Paris is that, far from France propping up the island, successive generations of Corsicans have been bled dry of the proceeds from the island s main industries tourism and commercial farming. Peasants, they argue, could keep these proceeds if ties with the Fifth Republic were cut, a similar argument to what Scottish Nationalists say about North Sea oil. Professor Brendan O Leary of the London School of Economics says the success of any secessionist movement is critically dependent upon its relationship with the state it leaves. If Corsica decided to join the EU, it would encounter several hurdles. It is by no means certain that it would meet any of the entry requirements currently being demanded of other candidate states.