The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, launched Thursday September 28, before the presidents of the regions of France, the principle of “regional COPs” on the ecological transition, based on the model of the United Nations party conferences. A “shared” action plan, “by summer”.
These “territorial COPs” will be responsible for “bringing together national work and territorial feedback”, and “because the regions are the leaders in territorial planning, the level for strategic reflection and planning”, said announced the Prime Minister before the Régions de France association, meeting at an annual conference in Saint-Malo (Ille-et-Vilaine).
These regional COPs will be accompanied by a tour of France of the regions by the ministers concerned and must allow “a collective awareness of the steps to be taken, to succeed in the ecological transition, at all levels”, she underlined. .
“Our objective is to arrive at an action plan shared with everyone by next summer” to “achieve our objectives of reducing emissions, deploying renewable energies, or even preserving biodiversity “, insisted the head of government, also responsible for ecological planning.
The COPs will be “co-hosted by the presidents of the regional councils and the regional prefects”. “State and regions, together, we will decide on the form, sequences, method and modalities of debate,” explained Elisabeth Borne. She will sign a circular on Thursday September 28 specifying the terms and conditions for the deployment of these COPs, which will be based “on what already exists”.
An announcement against a backdrop of renewed tensions between the Elysée and the regional presidents
Ms. Borne once again pleaded for a constant “dialogue” with the regions based on the triptych “consultation, trust, differentiation”, while the relationship between Emmanuel Macron and the regional presidents is experiencing renewed tension due to the recent outings of the head of state on transport and fuels, proof of a lack of dialogue according to local barons.
The president of Regions of France, Carole Delga, also socialist president of the Occitanie region, was pleased to have obtained “confirmation that the COPs would indeed be regional” and would not be “in small pieces” on territories ” irrelevant,” referring to departments. “The link for a real energy policy, the real link for a definition of the consumption of agricultural land, is the region,” she added.
Recalling that the first two sources of greenhouse gas emissions are transport and buildings, Ms. Delga hoped that there would be, at the level of the regional development plan, “a global vision of which territories are that we build, that we densify, what are the territories in compensation that we renature”.
As for transport, “it is the regions which are in charge”, clarified the elected official, who is asking the Prime Minister for a “transport foundation” to overhaul the State’s railway policy and find new ones. sources of funding for the regions.