Ecology: Macron wants to "enrich" his project with proposals from other candidates

Europe 1 with AFP 9:16 a.m., April 13, 2022

Emmanuel Macron explained on Wednesday that he wanted to "enrich" his program in ecological matters by taking up the ideas of "ecological planning" of Jean-Luc Mélenchon or the proposals of Yannick Jadot in terms of "circular economy".

"Step Up the Pace"

"I believe in the foundation of my project, but anything I can do to go faster, to step things up, I'm ready to take it back," he said on France 2. He argued that his project was "the only one that allows us to quickly get out of dependence on fossil fuels, especially from Russia or countries with which we may have geopolitical risks".

But he wants to "intensify the pace" on its main axes: energy "sobriety" via the renovation of housing and a system of leasing electric vehicles for low-income families, the deployment of renewable energies and the nuclear program.

The candidate president "wants also to look at what, coming from other proposals, makes it possible to clarify this line with ecological planning", he indicated, thus taking up an idea from the LFI candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who came third in the first presidential tower.

"Believe in the ecology of solutions"

"I'm not going to say that I'm going to get out of nuclear power, which was (the) position (of Jean-Luc Mélenchon), because it's not good for our country", he underlined, but he must "enrich, intensify, invest more in all of these subjects".

He also cited the proposals of the ecologist Yannick Jadot, 6th in the first round, "on circular economy subjects where he wanted to go even faster than what we were doing", specifying "to believe in the ecology of solutions", not to "degrowth projects".

At the same time, he attacked "the far-right project" of RN candidate Marine Le Pen who "completely makes fun of the IPCC report", and "consists of dismantling wind turbines (...), that is- that is to say to spend hundreds of millions of euros to remove renewable energy sources, which is an absurdity and budgetary and energy".

Asked whether he would appoint a new Prime Minister within 15 days of his possible re-election, Emmanuel Macron stressed that it depended "on the international context".

"Obviously if I am elected, it is to renew things and be able to go to the" legislative elections of June, but there is "a reservation: it is that there are no exceptional circumstances which suppose taking quick decisions, with a government in place," he said, citing the war in Ukraine.