The Senate began discussing the green industry bill on Tuesday, “a real turning point in the economic history” of France for Minister Bruno Le Maire, but “far below the stated objectives” deplore the senators.
A little over 300 amendments will be studied on this text, the examination of which at first reading can continue until Thursday evening.
“The green industry is not a contradiction in terms, it is obvious, and it is even a tautology”, assured the Minister of the Economy. “If we want to have an industry, it must be green, and for us to be green, we need our industry”.
The bill is an “indispensable link in a global reindustrialization strategy”, added his counterpart at Industry Roland Lescure.
Bruno Le Maire has pledged that the Banque des Territoires will invest “one billion euros to develop 50 turnkey 2,000-hectare sites”.
“The government promises us 40,000 job creations and 23 billion euros in additional investments by 2030. Who could oppose such a program?” Asked the rapporteur Laurent Somon (LR).
However, he deplores a text “far below the stated objectives”, regretting that the tax and financial measures, including tax credits, are referred to the finance law.
“A small law, very far from the revolution claimed by the government”, judged Fabien Genet (LR).
“Technical text, this industry bill has everything of the catch-all but nothing of the expected revolution”, added the centrist Jean-François Longeot.
Despite this disappointment, the LR and centrist groups announced that they would vote for the amended text.
The first articles adopted on Tuesday by the Senate aim to strengthen the greening of public procurement, initiated by the Climate law.
The Senate also voted several derogations from the main principles of public procurement for operators in the energy, water and transport sectors, proposed by the government.
“They are essential to guarantee the rapid connection of green industries”, noted Bruno Le Maire.
But the “big chunk” of the bill remains the mobilization of industrial land.
The text provides for several measures to facilitate the mobilization of wastelands, particularly industrial ones, and speeds up installation procedures. The objective is to halve the average time to obtain the administrative authorizations necessary to open a factory, currently estimated at 17 months.
“If the text is insufficient in relation to the ambitions displayed, it does not skimp on the regressions concerning environmental rules”, criticized the ecologist Daniel Salmon, announcing that his group would oppose it.
In committee, the senators amended article 9 of the bill which had provoked an outcry from the mayors. The latter considered it “unacceptable” that the State could decide for them on the location of certain major industrial projects. The senators have provided for an obligation of assent from the mayor.
The text also raises the delicate question of the implementation of “zero net artificialisation” (ZAN) of soils. In committee, the senators excluded all industrial sites contributing to ecological transition or national sovereignty from the ZAN count.
But a bill, passed at first reading in mid-March in the Senate, to facilitate the implementation of “zero net artificialisation”, is being examined this week by the National Assembly. The government wishes that it is within this text that the derogatory modalities of the taking into account of the ZAN be determined.
Soil artificialization consists in transforming agricultural or forest soils into urban or commercial areas.
On investment support, the text notably creates a green savings plan for young people with a higher remuneration than the Livret A. The expected collection is “around 1 billion euros” out of 5 billion private investments that the government wishes to mobilize.
06/20/2023 18:28:11 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
