Mouvement normand is a political organisation in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 that campaigns for autonomy of Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

. Unlike many regionalist groupings in France, it rejects "separatism" and underlines the view that people of Normandy are one of the constituent nationalities that made up the French nation. They also see the people of Normandy as direct inheritors of authentic Normans

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 and also the results of their overseas exploits.

History

The Mouvement normand has its origins in the far-right French movement of 1960s. In 1969, Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

 branch of the right-wing students' union Fédération nationale des étudiants de France merged with l'Union pour la Région Normande in Lisieux

Lisieux

Lisieux is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Lisieux is the capital of the Pays d'Auge area, which is characterised by valleys and hedged farmland...

 to form Mouvement de la Jeunesse de Normandie, renamed Mouvement normand in 1971. It is led by prominent right-wing activist Didier Patte, who is also a member of Groupement de recherche et d'études sur la culture européenne (GRECE, the Research and Study Group on European Culture).

The Mouvement normand had always recruited its supporters from the French far-right, especially Front National

Front National (France)

The National Front is a political party in France. The party was founded in 1972, seeking to unify a variety of French far-right currents of the time. Jean-Marie Le Pen was the party's first leader and the undisputed centre of the party from its start until his resignation in 2011...

. However, in recent years, there is a significant attraction for the members of centre-right

Centre-right

The centre-right or center-right is a political term commonly used to describe or denote individuals, political parties, or organizations whose views stretch from the centre to the right on the left-right spectrum, excluding far right stances. Centre-right can also describe a coalition of centrist...

 parties such as Union for French Democracy

Union for French Democracy

The Union for French Democracy was a French centrist political party. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to counterbalance the Gaullist preponderance over the right. This name was chosen due to the title of Giscard d'Estaing's...

 (UDF). The Mouvement normand's regionalist agenda draws more attention everyday in the political life of Normandy.

Major goals

• Haute-Normandie
  Haute-Normandie
  Upper Normandy is one of the 27 regions of France. It was created in 1984 from two départements: Seine-Maritime and Eure, when Normandy was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy. This division continues to provoke controversy, and some continue to call for reuniting the two regions...
  
   and Basse-Normandie
  Basse-Normandie
  Lower Normandy is an administrative region of France. It was created in 1956, when the Normandy region was divided into Lower Normandy and Upper Normandy...
  
   should be unified to found a single région of "Normandie".
• The regional government of Normandy should be provided with more authority.
• The "unique" cultural character of Normandy, formed with elements from the Anglo-Norman
  Anglo-Norman
  The Anglo-Normans were mainly the descendants of the Normans who ruled England following the Norman conquest by William the Conqueror in 1066. A small number of Normans were already settled in England prior to the conquest...
  
   culture as well as Gallic
  Gauls
  The Gauls were a Celtic people living in Gaul, the region roughly corresponding to what is now France, Belgium, Switzerland and Northern Italy, from the Iron Age through the Roman period. They mostly spoke the Continental Celtic language called Gaulish....
  
  culture should be recognised and preserved.

External links

• Official site of Mouvement Normand (in French)
• English page on the official site
• TVNormanChannel Mouvement Normand's WebTelevision of current events and history on Normandy, in English and French.