The National Assembly votes on Tuesday the bill for the acceleration of renewable energies, a vote that could be close due to the abstention of environmentalists and the doubts of socialists.
“There were discussions until the end and many calls this weekend”, slips from the side of the Ministry of Energy Transition, which counts and recounts the forces present before the solemn vote at the end of the afternoon, at the end of this first reading.
Environmentalists want to “pressure”
A ministerial source assures “not to be worried” by a favorable vote, but “not with a clear advantage”. An abstention from the left is enough for the macronistas. But they would have expected more momentum around a text that aims to deploy wind and photovoltaic projects more quickly, and which had won broad approval in the Senate in early November.
“This bill accelerates renewable energy projects by several years, it is a fact, then, either the opposition groups (left) are consistent with their presidential and legislative program (…), or they remain in the political position and choose to the opposition in principle”, attacks the minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
Environmentalists have already promised a “waiting abstention” to “press” ahead of the sequel. “We hope for something better”, for example on the deployment of renewables in existing buildings, emphasizes the leader of the EELV party Marine Tondelier.
The PS could vote for
“They don’t grab the outstretched hand,” criticizes Macronista deputy Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade, who fears that this will strengthen “those who mostly say that we should only work with the right.”
The rebels will abstain or vote against it, and the communists are preparing to oppose the text. In the PS, the group intends to decide on Tuesday morning between abstention and support. And the government also hopes to have the small independent group Liot.
If the Assembly gives the green light, a mixed commission will bring together deputies and senators, a priori on January 24, to try to establish a compromise text, with a view to its final adoption in February.
“Surveillance”
At the Palais Bourbon, the executive quickly understood that the right would vote against this text. Because the LR deputies have taken a tougher line than their fellow Senate members. They question “unjustified derogations granted to wind power”, “intermittent energy” and denounce a “salami” of energy texts.
A bill dedicated to nuclear energy comes before the Senate floor on January 17, ahead of the future multi-year energy program. On the far right, the RN criticized the “nuisance” of the wind turbines throughout the discussions:
“It twists the eyes and the brain,” according to parliamentarian Pierre Meurin.
Wind turbines at the center of the debate
This bill aims to reduce installation times and catch up with France’s significant lag in terms of renewable energy, which represents only 19.3% of gross final energy consumption, well below its European neighbours. The text insists in particular on photovoltaic and offshore wind energy, in line with the ambition shown by Emmanuel Macron to multiply by ten by 2050 the production capacity of solar energy to exceed 100 GW and deploy 50 offshore wind farms to achieve the 40 GW.
Among the main debates: the sensitive subject of the approval of the mayors before installing wind turbines and solar panels. In line with a commitment found in the Senate, the Assembly validated a planning device, with priority “acceleration” zones for the installation of renewables, subject to the approval of the municipalities.
The measure has tensed the left, which fears the return of the “veto of the mayors” demanded by the LR deputies for the entire territory. Among the NGOs, WWF generally judges “the exercise interesting but inconclusive”, and sees in the planning mechanism with the municipalities, “a bit of a gas plant”.
On a professional level, the president of the renewable energy union Jules Nyssen points out “positive points” in access to land for photovoltaics, but also “setbacks” and “vigilance points”, such as the withdrawal of the bonus in resident bills. . The Assembly favored a socialist proposal to finance broader territorial measures: funds for homes in energy poverty or for biodiversity.
“Two rooms, two rooms”
For Matthieu Croissandeau, political columnist for BFMTV, the deputies adopted an “attitude sometimes at odds with their fellow senators of the same sensitivity.” According to him, between the Senate – “where there was a real work of parliamentary co-construction” that resulted in a text voted by a very large majority in the first reading – and the National Assembly, there are “two rooms, two rooms”.
“Where is the coherence?” he asks, both to the leadership of the left and to the right.
“The arguments are quite pathetic. The text is not ambitious enough, say environmentalists: is that why we have to deprive ourselves of progress? It is not about giving the government a gift the day it presents the pension reform. what is the relationship and where is the gift?” analyzes Matthieu Croissandeau.
Lastly, he recalls that “361 amendments were approved”, “including 167 from the opposition”.
Source: BFM TV
