Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: Yoan VALAT / POOL / AFP 19:24 pm, May 11, 2023

In a speech intended to present his strategy to "accelerate" the "reindustrialization" of the country, Emmanuel Macron announced a reform of the ecological bonus, granted to the purchase of an electric vehicle in order to "take into account the carbon footprint" of their production and thus promote vehicles manufactured in Europe.

The ecological bonus for the purchase of an electric car will be reformed to "take into account the carbon footprint" of their production and thus promote vehicles made in Europe, announced Thursday Emmanuel Macron. In the automotive sector, where China is by far the world's largest producer of electric vehicles but relies on energy production still largely based on coal, it is a question of supporting "batteries and vehicles that are produced in Europe because their carbon footprint is good", he explained, by presenting to the Elysée Palace its strategy to "accelerate" the "reindustrialization" of the country.

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"This does not mean that we are doing protectionism but we do not want to use French taxpayers' money to accelerate non-European industrialization," he added, calling for "not repeating the mistakes" made with the photovoltaic industry, dominated by the Chinese. The criteria for awarding this reformed ecological bonus will be defined "by the end of the year", according to the head of state.

One billion euros dedicated to this bonus

It will also take into account the integration of recycled or bio-based materials in the production of vehicles, according to the Ministry of the Economy. "Manufacturers will therefore have to justify that they meet these ecological criteria required to be able to benefit from the ecological bonus," he said. Bercy says it has developed a model to assess the carbon footprint of the construction of a vehicle, "from the battery to the construction of the engine".

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The ecological bonus is a financial aid granted to any purchaser or lessee (holder of a lease contract for a period of two years or more) of an electric, hydrogen or combination of the two. The purchase cost must be less than 47,000 euros. The State devotes one billion euros to it. Emmanuel Macron also said that public orders would take into account environmental criteria "for key products of decarbonization" such as wind turbines and heat pumps from July 2024 instead of 2026.

"We will focus on responsible public procurement, especially in the most critical markets, solar, wind, heat pumps and others," he said. "We will stop financing non-Europeans with our public markets and so we will do it from July 2024."