After several months of delay, Elisabeth Borne presented her roadmap on ecological planning to party leaders on Monday, September 18. At the end of the meeting which she described as a “catch-up oral” after the meeting in Saint-Denis at the end of August where ecology had been little discussed, the national secretary of Europe ecology-Les Greens (EELV), Marine Tondelier, welcomed “a very complete, very lucid and quite unprecedented observation”.
But “meetings are of no use if there is no action,” she added, calling for a “climate” tax on large fortunes and a “public finance programming law” on ecology.
“A war against the climate requires a war economy, and we are very, very far from it,” added the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure. The national secretary of the Communist Party, Fabien Roussel, had arrived “without illusion”, wishing above all to “lower the bill” for electricity and gas.
Multiple subjects of tension
A subject of tension, the question of the connection between ecology and purchasing power came up at the meeting at a time when energy and fuel prices are increasing sharply. On Sunday, the opposition criticized Ms. Borne’s announcement to authorize the sale of fuel at a loss to “further lower prices.”
For the right, Eric Ciotti drew a “half-hearted assessment” of this planning, without “a very clear perspective on the means of achieving it and financing it”. He calls for a conference “on energy prices” and a reduction in taxes on gas and electricity rather than a sale at a loss, “a placebo on a wooden leg (sic)” in his eyes.
Small service stations “will not be able to afford” a sale at a loss, estimated Ms. Tondelier, who would prefer to “tax the super profits” of TotalEnergies or give fuel checks “to those who need them the most”.
In the name of the National Rally, European MP Mathilde Androuët called for “a real break” with “free trade” which “encourages pollution” and deplored a “total absence of concern for the people”, for whom the environment is become “a constraint”.
The only person responsible for the majority to speak, the president of the MoDem, François Bayrou, considered the meeting “interesting”, even if there are, “of course, (…) people who think that we are not going to far enough “.
A meeting without La France insoumise
Scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to noon, the meeting organized behind closed doors was held without La France insoumise (LFI), which decided to boycott the meeting, as its coordinator, Manuel, announced in advance. Bompard.
“We do not wish to participate in a new communication operation without effect”, three weeks after the meetings in Saint-Denis with the Head of State, he argued in a press release released Monday morning, criticizing “these initiatives to circumvent parliamentary democracy”.
“While the challenges for our planet are immense, this decision is inconsistent and irresponsible,” responded Elisabeth Borne on Monday in a tweet published at midday, after the discussions took place.
According to Matignon, this meeting aimed to allow the executive and the various political forces to debate solutions to implement a “just” and not “punitive” ecological transition.
In July, the government postponed the presentation of its plan due to the urban riots following the death of Nahel M., then the reshuffle that took place in the aftermath.
Today he promises a “very concrete” and “very operational” plan in order to “be at the European meeting” of the 55% reduction in net greenhouse gas emissions in 2030 compared to 1990, and to “project towards carbon neutrality in 2050”, although vagueness still reigns.
Announcements reserved for Emmanuel Macron
Whatever emerges from these exchanges, the announcement of the main measures for ecological planning is reserved for a speech by Emmanuel Macron.
According to information from Le Monde, it is on Monday September 25 that the President of the Republic must unveil the main axes of ecological planning, during a speech given at the end of a working day where he must invite the forces politicians, unions and associations. Several trips by the Head of State devoted to this subject will then take place before the end of the year.
What we know for the moment is that the government could, among other measures, finance an increase in the ecological bonus for the purchase of electric vehicles associated with an extended penalty when purchasing the most expensive cars. pollutants. In “stock” (new and old), the share of electric cars in the French fleet must increase from 1% today to 15% in 2030, estimates Matignon.
On France Inter, the minister responsible for industry, Roland Lescure, announced that fifty contracts would be signed, in which the government “commits to supporting manufacturers in their transition and they undertake to make it”. For him, “planning launches general mobilization. There is no one actor who can do this alone, everyone has to do their part of the job.”
“We are going to strengthen obligations, double fines and exclude from public contracts companies that do not do so,” said Mr. Lescure, regarding the measurement of industrial carbon footprints.
The executive also promises answers on the financing of metropolitan RERs in around ten cities in France, the subject of a bill currently being examined in Parliament.
During the presentation of the state budget for next year, scheduled for September 27 in the Council of Ministers, the executive should also explain how it intends to distribute the additional 7 billion euros promised by the Prime Minister in July to accelerate the transition.
Measures are also expected in the housing sector, for more “efficient” energy renovations, suggested the Minister of Ecological Transition, Christophe Béchu, on Sunday.
Furthermore, by 2030, the government wants to “eliminate 75% of oil boilers” and “reduce by around 20% [the number of] gas boilers (excluding hybrid heat pumps)”, according to a document sent to the press. Industry and agriculture will also be on the menu.