2024-02-13 17:48:00
What is the government playing? The more the weeks pass, the more his intentions regarding France’s energy strategy become obscured. After promising that he would present the “Energy Sovereignty” bill “ before July 2023 “, the deadline had slipped to ” end of January 2024 » a few weeks ago then « in the first half of the year “, according to Bercy… until the new Minister for Industry and Energy, Roland Lescure, mentioned this Sunday a text presented ” during this year “, probably at the ” second semestre “. Yet another twist in the incomprehensible sequence of the last five weeks.
« There is no emergency “, in fact affirmed Sunday on the set of France 3 the one who has recovered the energy in his wallet since February 8. And this, even though the law obliged the executive to legislate on the subject before the summer of 2023.
“We are going to consult everyone once more, the associations, the unions, the producers, the elected officials […] and parliamentarians […]to ensure that we have a good road map […] We need everyone and everything,” he added yesterday in Marcoussis, in Essonne, on the occasion of his first trip to the largest photovoltaic power plant in Ile-de-France.
As a reminder, the aim of this text is to put Parliament at the heart of discussions on the energy transition to set in stone the country’s main orientations in this area. While the government does not benefit from an absolute majority in the Assembly and the Senate, the minister says he wants to “ ensure that there is a possible passageway » for this text in Parliament. And for good reason, uA large part of the left intends to reduce the weight of nuclear power while the right refuses to develop renewables. According to our information, the Minister for Industry and Energy will meet opposition deputies this Thursday to discuss the issue.
Agnès Pannier-Runacher was ready, according to those around her
Is Roland Lescure thus trying to chart a third path, different from that of his predecessor, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, but also from Bruno Le Maire, on whom he depends? While at the beginning of January, the first wanted to have this law passed as quickly as possible, convinced that an agreement was possible with parliamentarians, the second had put the brakes on all four irons following taking up the torch on January 12, determined to empty the text of its substance to avoid its unraveling by the opposition.
Before being dismissed, Agnès Pannier-Runacher was nevertheless “ ready » to submit it to parliamentarians thanks to a well-established strategy, says those around him today: in the first version of the bill which was to be presented to the Council of Ministers at the end of January, the ambitious objectives of the executive on renewable energies (unveiled by Emmanuel Macron in February 2022 in Belfort) were not directly registered.
The objective: “ let them arrive by amendment during the debate, then keep them by putting yourself in a balancing position between the right and the left », Explains a source close to the matter who requested anonymity. Hence a text originally unbalanced in favor of nuclear power, “ so that the deputies and senators themselves are responsible for finding a happy medium during the discussions, rather than letting them block everything from the start because of the majority opposition to renewables », we add.
But since the reshuffle and the transfer of energy to Bercy in mid-January, Bruno Le Maire was much more cautious. After deleting all of Title I concerning the energy strategy, he summoned several deputies from his group at the end of the month to “ calm down on energy » and notify them of its intention to “ go through the law less “, several of them testified. “ The subject is no longer whether Bercy will bury the text, but the method of burial », then blurted out one of the parliamentarians present at The Tribune. And ” lack of political courage » for some, simple “ pragmatism » according to others.
“Bruno Le Maire doesn’t want to take any risks. As soon as you talk regarding wind turbines with LR, they respond that they will not vote, and it’s the same with a good part of the left on nuclear power. At this stage, he therefore made us understand that there is rather a desire on the part of the government not to have a programming component in the law, neither today nor tomorrow,” said another a few days ago. member at the table.
Move forward or drown the fish?
Under these conditions, will Roland Lescure really succeed in saving the text, or is he simply trying to gain time, while parliamentarians and NGOs are growing impatient? The idea of a new wave of consultations is, in any case, difficult to convince. “ The previous government has already carried out numerous consultations, some with parliamentarians », We react to the French Electricity Union (UFE).
” We think always that there will be no programming law, and that the government will take regulatory measures where it considers that there cannot be political consensus », We add within a professional association in the energy world.
« I don’t see how it will be easier to have the text voted on in six months. It will be even worse », adds to The Tribune a member of the majority.
Especially since Roland Lescure, although he seeks to keep face, has still not denied our information according to which Bercy also wishes to considerably lighten the chapter of the bill relating to the regulation of electricity prices paid by consumers. Here too, according to many stakeholders, to avoid a cutting by the parliamentary opposition of the agreement signed between EDF and the State last November.
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