- The municipal elections were marked by record abstention, but also a breakthrough by the Greens, victorious in many large cities.
- The President of the Republic has endeavored to regain control on Monday by responding to the Citizen's Climate Convention, to amplify his ecological policy before the end of his five-year term.
- He could also integrate personalities embodying ecology in his future government, which must be appointed before Wednesday, July 8.
Quickly move on. After the defeat of his (young) party at the municipal level, Emmanuel Macron did not dwell on the poor results of the walkers. The day after the election which saw Europe ecology-The Greens conquer several big cities, the president organized a conference at the Elysée Palace to announce a plan on ecology. "What you have demonstrated is that we must go much further, much stronger, than at bottom, even if we already have a balance sheet, the story is accelerating, it is insufficient," launched the head of state with 150 members drawn by lot from the Citizens' Climate Convention.
Under pressure, Emmanuel Macron wants to speed up the tempo and score points on the ecology. Between a bill planned before the summer, and a reshuffle before Wednesday, July 8, the head of state has several options to green his policy, two years from the end of his mandate.
Measures in July, a bill in September
In the gardens of the Elysée Palace, Emmanuel Macron announced that he will transmit 146 of the 149 proposals made by the Citizen's Climate Convention to the government and to Parliament. Some will be implemented at the end of July, others integrated into the recovery plan, and the others will appear in a “specific bill” in September. The president also promised to invest "an additional 15 billion euros over two years" for the ecological conversion of the economy.
In the aftermath of an election marked by the breakthrough of the Greens in many cities, are presidential announcements also intended to seduce the environmental electorate? "This is no coincidence," smiles Matthieu Orphelin, MP and ex-activist of EELV. "This is a way of telling citizens that it has understood that ecology is becoming a marker, and will be in the next elections," continues the elected official from Maine-et-Loire, who left LREM to create the Ecology, democracy, solidarity group at the Assembly.
A new greener government?
The reshuffle planned at the end of the municipal elections also provides an opportunity to send signals to the green and left-wing electorate. "After this speech, strong, it will be necessary that the government and the deputies get in tune with this new direction set by Emmanuel Macron", points Matthieu Orphelin, who judges the declarations of certain ministers "contradictory" with the course set by the 'Elysium. Tuesday, on RMC and BFMTV, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire said for example "reserved" on the ban on advertising for SUVs, proposal of the Convention yet accepted by the Head of State Eve.
Emmanuel Macron could recruit more green personalities to the government. But EELV executives said on Monday that they would not be part of it. “The poaching is a casting operation, to send signals. But that would not make sense, because the majority in the Assembly voted for all the previous renunciations in terms of ecology ”, sweeps the EELV MEP and ex-national secretary of the party David Cormand.
Difficulties embodying ecology
The start of his five-year term began with the offensive " Make our planet great again ", in reaction to Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreements. A year later, Nicolas Hulot resigned from the Ministry of Ecology, however, deploring a policy of "small steps". According to a YouGov poll for the HuffPost published on Wednesday, only 22% of French people think that it has done enough for the climate since coming to power. Emmanuel Macron will therefore need to convince the population that his ecological ambition does not remain at the stage of big speeches.
"We have set up real ecological advances, but that does not translate into Monsieur tout-le-monde", recognizes LREM deputy from Paris Sylvain Maillard. Macronist Senator François Patriat recalls the decisions made at Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport or electric vehicles. "People continue to think that we have not done or that we have done too little" in terms of ecology, said Gilles le Gendre, president of the LREM group at the Assembly, at a conference of press, Tuesday. " It's wrong. On the other hand, we may have carried these projects with insufficient force to be able to instill in public opinion the fact that we had done a lot. "
Hesitations on strategy
"Part of Emmanuel Macron's electorate comes from the left and is sensitive to environmental issues," said Daniel Boy, researcher at Cevipof. However, these voters could be tempted to support, to the detriment of the outgoing President of the Republic, a green presidential candidacy, while EELV achieved good scores in European elections in 2019, then in municipal elections in 2020.
Faced with this prospect, the majority seem to hesitate. One party pleads to strengthen the green doctrine of LREM, like the deputies who created an internal ecological current, or of Matthieu Orphelin: "There is only 18 months left, it must be the final sprint of the quinquennium. Other walkers wish to mark their differences with the Greens, pleading to "reconcile economy and ecology", as Emmanuel Macron said on Monday. "The Greens have a vision of ecology that is not ours, we are not going to green our program at all costs", says an executive of the presidential party. "We are not decreasing!" It could thus prove difficult to federate the majority on a bill bringing together the 146 proposals of the Citizens' Convention ...
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Municipal
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- Municipal
- LREM
- Global warming
- Weather
- ecology
- EELV
- Emmanuel Macron
- Reshuffle