Emmanuel Macron at the Musée de la Marine and the Assises de la Mer on Monday and Tuesday

Europe 1 with AFP 15:17 p.m., November 26, 2023

President Emmanuel Macron will mark the reopening of the National Maritime Museum in Paris on Monday and make announcements on fishing and transport at the Assises de l'économie de la mer in Nantes on Tuesday, the Elysee Palace announced. "Our access, our autonomy, our sovereignty go through the sea, our interests as powers too," said the presidency, recalling that France has the second largest maritime space in the world. "Every day at sea, our values, our interests, our future are challenged," she said, referring in particular to cyber and the submarine cables through which global internet traffic passes.

"Maritime vision" of France

The National Maritime Museum, closed for six years for renovation, reopened its doors on 17 November at the Palais de Chaillot with a completely redesigned scenography, a multisensory tour and a research area. It presents the "maritime vision" of France, with all the stakes of the sea for the sovereignty of the country, from energy to ecology, argues the Elysee. In Nantes, the President will return to "the major themes of environmental protection, competitiveness, sovereignty in logistics and energy".

The conference will bring together fishermen, shipbuilders, shipowners, local elected officials and associations near France's first offshore wind farm off the coast of Saint-Nazaire, in Loire-Atlantique. The head of state will officially launch the four-month public debate aimed at identifying the sites on which some fifty similar parks will be installed by 2050. The aim is to draw up accurate maps of locations in the Mediterranean as well as in the Atlantic, Channel and North Sea.

"Accompanying" maritime transport

Emmanuel Macron will also make announcements in favour of fishermen, in a context of soaring fuel prices, and will draw up "prospects for this sector", the Elysée said. At the head of the European Union's third-largest fleet, which has been hit hard by the consequences of Brexit and soaring diesel prices, French fishermen are currently benefiting from a subsidy of 20 cents per litre of fuel, until 31 December.

The head of state also wants to "reconquer our food sovereignty in this sector," said a presidential adviser, while 80% of the seafood consumed in France is now imported. He will also come back to the means of "accompanied" maritime transport, including ports, towards the exit from fossil fuels by 2050.

Emmanuel Macron will also speak on the protection of the sea at COP 28 on Friday and Saturday in Dubai, in the run-up to the United Nations Ocean Conference scheduled for 2025 in Nice.