Last vote before the summer break: the National Assembly adopted, on the night of Friday July 21 to Saturday July 22, in first reading the green industry bill, which aims to reindustrialize the country while promoting ecological transition.
In a sometimes overheated atmosphere, the text was approved with the support of elected officials from the Les Républicains (LR) party and the National Rally (RN) by 217 votes for, 75 against and 18 abstentions, at the end of the extraordinary session in July.
The deputies as well as the senators – the latter had already validated this bill in June – will try at the start of the school year to agree on a version, with a view to its final adoption. Friday, hundreds of amendments were examined at the pace at the Palais-Bourbon, avoiding the deputies having to sit during the weekend on this text of greening of the industry.
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, welcomed “initiating the relocation” and the “decarbonization” of the industry, after “three decades of renunciation”. If the LR deputies came out in favor of the bill, it was “without enthusiasm”, dropped, for her part, Virginie Duby-Muller (Haute-Savoie), pointing to “blind spots on training and financing” in particular, far from the very proactive policy of the American Inflation Reduction Act. Same position on the RN side, where Alexandre Loubet (Moselle) regretted that “the mountain gives birth to a mouse”.
The left was divided between voting against – like La France insoumise (LFI) and Europe Ecologie-Les Verts – and abstention (Socialist Party and Communist Party), all deploring “a missed meeting”. The elected representatives of the Liberties, Independents, Overseas and Territories (LIOT) group also abstained.
Funding questioned
The bill sets the objective of halving the average time required to obtain authorization to open a factory, currently estimated at seventeen months. The objective is to encourage projects like those of the Big Five – wind, photovoltaic, heat pumps, batteries, carbon-free hydrogen. For some projects “of major national interest”, designated by decree, an exceptional procedure is provided, giving control to the State.
The executive is also emphasizing the mobilization of private savings, rather than public money, with a new product – the “future climate savings plan” – which the executive expects to raise 1 billion euros for green industry. It was to be open to those under 18, but the age was raised to 21, Friday evening in session.
Through the voice of Gérard Leseul (Seine-Maritime), the Socialists deplored with this savings plan a financing which is “not decent” in view of the stakes. But the discussions slipped with Louis Boyard (LFI, Val-de-Marne) on the precariousness of young people, causing a few passes of arms with the presidential camp.
A label will also be created to give virtuous companies privileged access to public procurement, a “Copernican revolution” according to the Minister Delegate for Industry, Roland Lescure.
“The Elysée is green”
Since the start of the exchanges on Monday, the deputies had made little change in the measures. In the home stretch, against the government’s advice, they adopted amendments from environmentalists and some macronists to generalize the “say on climate”, to allow shareholders to be consulted on a company’s climate strategy. The state will have to define a “national strategy” on the green industry for 2023-2030, the deputies voted unanimously earlier, confirming an addition from the Senate.
Sophia Chikirou (LFI, Paris) took advantage of the subject to challenge Roland Lescure on the recent purchase of a gas boiler by the Elysée, saying she was “shocked”. The Minister replied that this purchase had been made to replace an oil-fired boiler and that this boiler “would only [work] 20% to 30% of the time when the heat pump that was installed would not [sufficient”, ensuring that “the Elysee Palace is green”.
Without resentment, the minister wished the parliamentarians “happy holidays” overnight: after a year of bitter battles, “you have well deserved them”.
The National Assembly should resume its work in the hemicycle the last week of September, for a short extraordinary session on the public finance programming bill. At the Luxembourg Palace, sessions will not resume until early October, after the senatorial elections on September 24.
