France: Macron announces a referendum to include the fight for the climate in the Constitution
Emmanuel Macron during the CCL, in Paris on December 14, 2020. REUTERS - POOL
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
Emmanuel Macron opened the way on Monday for the holding of a referendum on the introduction of the defense of the environment in the Constitution, during a meeting with the members of the Citizen's Convention for the Climate (CCC) which l 'urged to take "strong decisions" against global warming.
Publicity
Read more
The organization of this referendum by the end of the five-year term in 2022 remains uncertain, however, since it can only take place after a vote by the National Assembly and the Senate, the latter being controlled by the right.
Emmanuel Macron made the announcement at the conclusion of 3h30 of discussions with 132 members of the CCC, who subjected him to a salvo of concrete and sometimes technical questions, as well as to critical questions on his ecological balance.
“
You have the opportunity to make history by making strong decisions.
So, dare, Mr. President
!
", Christine launched to him, coming from a" small village in the Alps ".
"
What we ask you is to be consistent,
" Agnes urged when asking her about 5G.
More controversial, Paul lamented his "
unambitious
"
ecological policy
and wondered: "
Are you climatocynique or climatosceptique
?
".
►
To read also: France: criticized inside, Emmanuel Macron occupies the climatic field
If it materializes, the referendum would be the first to be held in France since 2005, which focused on the European Constitution and saw the victory of the “no”.
Emmanuel Macron specified that this consultation would relate to "
a constitutional reform in one article
" to "
introduce the concepts of biodiversity, the environment, the fight against global warming
" in article 1. It "
must first go through the National Assembly then the Senate and be voted on in identical terms.
That day, it will be submitted to a referendum,
”he explained.
As a result, the consultation of the French is considered “
very uncertain
” by Benjamin Morel, lecturer in public law at the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas, emphasizing the “
little time remaining in the parliamentary calendar
”.
"
And the LR group in the Senate would still need to find it appropriate to grant a plebiscite on a subject that is a priori consensual to its main political opponent one year from a presidential election,
" he added in a tweet.
An “essentially symbolic” announcement
Very severe in its initial reactions, the opposition criticized a political “coup de com” the outcome of which is considered uncertain.
"
This will not change anything: the environmental charter already has a constitutional value
", mocked the boss of senators LR Bruno Retailleau who accuses Emmanuel Macron of wanting to "
hide his poor ecological record
".
Adopted in 2004, the environmental charter is, since March 1, 2005, cited in the first paragraph of the preamble of the Constitution.
►
To read also: France: Emmanuel Macron continues his “ecological” sequence with the hope of calming the critics
“
A referendum for or against the rain, after everything we have just suffered.
What cinema
”, lambasted the N.2 of the National Rally, Jordan Bardella.
On the NGO side, Greenpeace regretted an “
essentially symbolic
”
announcement
from a president who “
shone with a hollow intervention, without new announcements
”.
Grégoire Fraty, co-president of the association 150 which brings together most of the participants in the CCC, however welcomed a referendum which "
will do good
".
“
We needed it.
If the French overwhelmingly say yes, maybe that will have a ripple effect for politicians,
”he added.
►
To read also: France: Emmanuel Macron, upset heir of the COP21
Before discussing the referendum, Emmanuel Macron did not make any important announcements, but defended his policy step by step, assuring that "
no government has done so much for the environment
".
He said that fifty of the 149 proposals made in the spring by the CCC had already "
been implemented or are in the process of being
", in particular in the climate law expected in January.
Some emblematic measures are still in the balance, such as the energy renovation of buildings or a restriction on advertising.
It validated the creation of food vouchers for the most disadvantaged, to be used for the purchase of organic food or in the Amap (cooperatives of local agricultural products), a measure that had not been decided.
Faced with the insistence of "citizens", Emmanuel Macron insisted on the fact that "
the choices made for ecology
" had to "
be acceptable to the French
", recalling that the Citizens' Convention was "
precisely born because the carbon tax had not been accepted by our fellow citizens
”, leading to the“ yellow vests ”crisis.
(With
AFP
)
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
Emmanuel Macron
Weather