Paris (AFP)

The National Assembly unanimously approved a text on Thursday aimed at reconciling digital development and the environment, after a compromise on a fee for used smartphones, the subject of strong tensions between the worlds of culture and industry.

The deputies validated at first reading at the end of the evening the proposed law on "the reduction of the environmental footprint of the digital" by 40 votes for and none against.

The text must now return to the Senate, where it originally came from.

This compromise, resulting from amendments from the government and the majority, provides that used phones reconditioned will be subject to "remuneration for private copying" (RCP), but at a rate "specific and differentiated" compared to new devices. , taking into account in particular their seniority.

Companies in the social and solidarity sector specializing in this repackaging will be exempt, a sensitive point for many deputies.

The Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, welcomed a "win-win solution" for artists and the economic sector.

The prospect of seeing this law exempt refurbished cell phones from this royalty had caused an outcry in the cultural world, which saw it as a possible breach in an important system of support for artists.

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Created in 1985, this royalty applies to manufacturers of devices allowing the copying of cultural works.

The RCP generated 273 million euros - the equivalent of 7% of the budget of the Ministry of Culture - in 2020 for the benefit of rights holders and cultural projects such as festivals.

Conversely, the companies in the sector wanted this exemption, believing that this fee, if it were perpetuated in the law, could destroy the dynamism of a sector that creates strong jobs, especially in the solidarity economy.

The refurbishment sector represented 15% of telephone sales in France in 2020.

The bill originally emanates from the Senate, which has already approved it at first reading.

But several senators, including the rapporteur of the text Guillaume Chevrollier, published Thursday in the JDD a forum strongly demanding the exemption from this royalty for second-hand devices, suggesting new debates on this point at second reading in the chamber high.

- "Blind spot" -

The proposal includes many measures aimed in particular at supporting the recycling and reuse of digital devices (smartphones, computers, tablets, etc.) to reduce their impact on the environment.

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"We must not oppose two transitions (ecological and digital) but ensure that they feed," pleaded in the hemicycle the Secretary of State for Digital, Cédric O.

"Blind spot of environmental policies", digital pollution "will impose itself as a central issue in the coming years", underlined the rapporteur at the Palais Bourbon, Vincent Thiébaut (LREM).

According to the work of a senatorial information mission, if nothing is done, digital technology would by 2040 be the source of 24 million tonnes of carbon equivalent, or around 7% of France's emissions, against 2% today.

Smartphones, tablets and other computers are believed to be responsible for nearly 70% of the digital impact.

The text notably proposes the creation of an "observatory of the environmental impacts of digital technology" in order to establish more precise data on this complex issue.

Because if they are energy-intensive and subject to rapid renewal, digital devices also make it possible to replace trips that generate even more CO2.

The text wants to encourage children, students and professionals to "digital sobriety" or to promote data centers and networks that consume less electricity.

Among the other measures proposed: strengthen the fight against planned software obsolescence.

© 2021 AFP