The investment program has allowed “catching up” in 20 years, according to the Court of Auditors

The exceptional program of investments in favor of Corsica (PEI) has allowed a “form of catch-up” in the development of infrastructures on the island, even if certain shortcomings, in particular on waste management, persist, estimates the Court accounts in an assessment released Thursday.

The Court of Auditors also hailed “a success” in terms of “co-construction between the State and the Collectivity of Corsica” which shared the governance of this project which enabled the commitment of 2 billion euros in investments. , 70% of which will be financed by the State, between 2002 and 2022. “The PEI is, and was, a response provided by the State to a delay in the development of Corsica” and constituted a “significant advance” of which “ we must not lose what has been achieved,” said Pierre Moscovici, First President of the Court of Auditors on Thursday during a press conference.

Transport and sanitation first

A satisfaction tempered by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne in her response to the Court of Auditors, published in the appendix to the report, pointing to projects and sectors left aside. “The Government remains very reserved about the efficiency of the governance shared between the State and the Collectivity of Corsica which has been practiced throughout the PEI”, she wrote. According to the Court, the majority of the nearly 700 operations were dedicated to improving infrastructure related to transport and water sanitation, which “needed catching up”.

The PEI has also “accompanied the economic and demographic growth” of Corsica, while the population of the island has increased by almost a third in the last twenty years, in particular by supporting the construction sector, she believes. . Nevertheless, certain issues such as waste management have been left aside (only 2% of the cost of operations), due to a lack of agreement between local actors or a lack of having occupied a central place in public policies. , notes the report.

The program focused on “what was urgent rather than what was essential in the long term”, summed up Pierre Moscovici, calling for the report’s recommendations to be taken into account for future investments. This program, “exceptional” because of its validation by the Parliament, the high amount of the investments and its long duration, according to the report, had been established by the law of January 22, 2002 relating to Corsica, after the observation of delays in terms of land development.

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