This time, the left hopes to make the government move on its side.
By starting, Monday, December 5, the examination in the National Assembly of the bill on the acceleration of renewable energies, the ecologist, socialist and rebellious deputies intend to revise a text which they consider too unambitious.
Regularly placed in opposition since the start of the legislature, the left – without the Communists who have already announced their intention to vote against the bill – this time has the opportunity to become an ad hoc ally of the government on a theme that is dear to her and for which she has been emphasizing for several years the urgency of acting.
Because the executive will not be able a priori to look to his right.
Unlike their colleagues in the Senate, the deputies Les Républicains intend to show their reluctance to the development of renewable energies by introducing a right of veto for mayors on new projects, as well as the prohibition of wind turbines at sea less than 40 kilometers from the coast. .
>> To read also: "The deputies are considering the bill to accelerate renewable energies"
Similarly, the National Rally deputies, who show firm opposition to wind turbines – “intermittent energies that make us dependent on the weather in addition to being dependent on other countries”, according to RN deputy Pierre Meurin – oppose to the bill.
The government is therefore forced to seek support on the left to ensure the passage of a text supposed to demonstrate the desire of Emmanuel Macron and Elisabeth Borne to move forward in the fight against global warming.
“We are waiting to see what the final text will contain”
"The government needs this text, I hope they will not make the mistake of taking the risk of depriving themselves of votes from the left", analyzes MP Sandra Regol, number two of the Europe Écologie-Les Verts party. (EELV).
The presidential majority – the 250 Renaissance, MoDem and Horizons deputies – intends to find around forty votes among the 30 socialist deputies, the 23 environmentalist deputies and the 20 Freedoms, independents, overseas and territories (LIOT) deputies.
The statements of the executive, on the other hand, suggest that the support of the 75 rebellious deputies is not necessarily sought.
>> To read also: "Renewable energies: bad student, France is catching up"
To convince them, the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, received many parliamentarians at the ministry.
More than fifty meetings since last summer having "made it possible to approach all the angles and all the axes of the text", we welcome the minister's office, where we insist on "advances with the ecologist and socialist deputies in particular".
"We have taken up proposals from deputies, in particular from the left and from LIOT", argued Agnès Pannier-Runacher in Le Journal du dimanche.
"All the conditions are met for them to vote for this text," she pleaded.
Regarding the debates on article 4 and the "imperative reasons of major public interest", @agnesrunacher recalls the recent evolution of the European framework on the subject and indicates that "this government will not sacrifice biodiversity for the benefit of the climate". #PJLEnR #DirectAN pic.twitter.com/CdjaSPtQV7
— LCP (@LCP) December 5, 2022
“We have actually been discussing with the government for weeks and telling them that we can be their best allies, agrees Sandra Regol. We are doing everything to make it go well. Now the ball is in their court : we are waiting to see how the debates go in the hemicycle and what the final text will contain.
"This text is the antithesis of ecological planning"
The EELV and Socialist Party deputies, who could vote in favor of the text or abstain, make the protection of biodiversity a red line in particular.
They insist in particular that the acceleration of the installation of solar panels be done on land already built such as roofs, car parks, buildings, in order to avoid the artificialization of new land, and plead for stronger supervision. of "agrivoltaism", the installation of solar panels on agricultural land.
On the side of the rebellious deputies, who have not yet decided if they will vote against or if they will abstain, they criticize the lack of planning of a text which would aim to offer the renewable market to private players.
🔴⚡️ Renewable energy bill: a text far from the ambition the country needs.
We are far from the text of ecological planning and popular ecology that the country needs.
Release ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/MYrKYUULaP
— Parliamentary group La France Insoumise - NUPES (@FiAssemblee) December 2, 2022
“This text removes the barriers and the constraints felt as such by the production companies of EnR (renewable energies), castigates the deputy La France insoumise Aurélie Trouvou. For us, this is not how we can obtain a planned acceleration. With this bill, on the contrary, we will have an anarchic acceleration. There is no overall scenario presented, no quantified objectives, no public investments, no prioritization: it is the antithesis of ecological planning.
The minister's office sweeps away these reservations out of hand.
"To oppose the text would be to show posture and, in the end, it serves the interest of the French."
Renewable energies currently represent only 19.3% of gross final energy consumption in France, already below the target set by the European Union in 2020 of 23%.
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