The text is presented as one of the most important of Emmanuel Macron's five-year term, but his vote risks going under the radar.
While the deputies will vote, Tuesday, January 10, on the bill on renewable energies (EnR), Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne will present at the same time the long-awaited and explosive reform of the pension system.
The head of government should however keep an eye on the ballot in the National Assembly, as a rejection would be synonymous with failure for the government.
And the outcome of the vote is still uncertain.
The bill, which aims to accelerate the deployment of wind and photovoltaic projects, had obtained the green light from the Senate in early November at first reading.
But the work of the deputies has largely modified the content of the text.
And for the first time in the five-year term, the majority turned to the left to "co-construct" the bill and thus obtain votes.
The @AssembleeNat will vote on the #RenewableEnergy Acceleration Bill on Tuesday.
After months of exchanges, 65 hours of debate and numerous proposals integrated into the text, I call on the opposition to vote in responsibility for the text they co-constructed.
pic.twitter.com/IA9jmnpyNE
— Agnes Pannier-Runacher 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@AgnesRunacher) January 6, 2023
The right and the extreme right have already announced that they will vote against.
The deputies Les Républicains (LR) deem the text "useless" and contest "unjustified exemptions granted to wind power".
As for the National Rally, it scrapped throughout the debates against wind turbines, guilty according to its deputies of "destroying our landscapes".
The Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, therefore worked to convince the left of the interest of her bill, taking up numerous amendments from the ranks of the New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes) such as proof of its goodwill and the government's ability to compromise.
>> To read: Renewable energies: bad student, France is catching up
Without an absolute majority, the 250 deputies of the presidential camp can however be satisfied with the abstention of a part of the left to have its text adopted, especially since the twenty or so deputies of the Freedoms, Independents, Overseas and Territories group (LIOT) should vote for.
Despite everything, the support of part of the Nupes would be appreciated by the government.
What does the text submitted to the vote contain?
The government's bill aims to catch up with France, where renewables represent only 19.3% of gross final energy consumption, already below the target set by the European Union for 2020 of 23%.
To speed up on renewable energies, the bill provides for territorial planning of their deployment.
If the device is voted by the Assembly, it will be up to the municipalities to identify, then bring up the list of land that can accommodate renewable energy projects.
These zones will be enforceable and must be registered, once decided, in the local town planning documents.
The approval of the mayors before installing wind turbines and solar panels has tensed the left, which fears the return of the "veto of the mayors" demanded by the LR deputies for the whole of the territory.
But the entourage of Agnès Pannier-Runacher tries to reassure: "There are several safeguards. No one will be able to block the system and we give a very clear timetable for the mapping of the zones" in less than a year.
>> To read: Renewable energies: the left wants to force the government to have more ambition
For offshore wind turbines, a document will establish by 2024, for each of the four seaboards – Eastern Channel-North Sea, North Atlantic-Western Channel, South Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea – a mapping of priority maritime and land areas for the installation of wind turbines.
MEPs also introduced measures for the preservation of marine biodiversity.
Regarding solar energy, the obligation for existing outdoor car parks to install solar panels has been extended to car parks of more than 1,500 m2 – instead of 2,500 m2 in the original version of the text.
In addition, agrivoltaism has been supervised since no solar installation on the ground can be built on agricultural land.
These installations will only be authorized on land deemed uncultivated or not exploited for at least ten years.
Finally, a key article aimed at reducing litigation against certain renewable energy projects, by recognizing an "imperative reason of major public interest (RIIPM)", was the subject of lively debate, the left fearing damage to the biodiversity.
Why the votes of the left are not acquired?
The Nupes judges the final text not ambitious enough and hesitates on the attitude to adopt Tuesday during the vote.
The Communists announced that they would vote against.
The rebels, who will make their decision on Tuesday morning, are hesitating between a vote against or an abstention.
Environmentalists have said they will abstain.
And the Socialists, who will also decide on Tuesday morning, are hesitating between a vote for or an abstention.
The bill "could have been a great text which would have marked the beginning of change. Let's be clear, this is not the case today", said the deputies Europe Écologie-Les Verts (EELV) in a press release tweeted on January 5.
According to them, there is in the text "no objective, no funding, no measure to strengthen the capacity to do".
🟢 The renewable energy acceleration bill (#PJLENR) could have allowed France to start its exit from fossil fuels.
Let's be clear, this is not the case.
At this point, the @EcologistsAN decided to abstain.
Find the group's press release.👇 pic.twitter.com/YP1zZ5w59x
— The Ecologists at the Assembly (@EcologistesAN) January 5, 2023
These hesitations are misunderstood by the Ministry of Energy Transition, which believes that it has done its part.
The Macronist deputies underline the "compromises" found with the Greens to extend the obligation to install solar panels on car parks, or to set up an observatory and a mediator for renewable energies.
And with the Socialists, to renounce the initial principle of rebates on the bills of residents of facilities, and favor broader territorial measures such as a fund to help low-income households.
"The minister did the job. If the left-wing groups do not themselves vote for what they have co-constructed, it is curious. For us, the dice are cast. Now it is up to them to face their coherence “, judge a member of the cabinet of Agnès Pannier-Runacher quoted by Release.
A total of 361 amendments were adopted, including 167 from the opposition.
Of these, 42 come from the socialists and 33 from the ecologists.
What happens if the bill is passed?
The text submitted to the vote on Tuesday in the National Assembly being very different from that adopted in November in the Senate, a joint joint commission (CMP) bringing together deputies and senators will be necessary to achieve a common bill.
But the CMP could encounter difficulties in reconciling the two versions of the bill.
Ecologists are also counting on this standoff between elected representatives of the two chambers to improve the text, either by an agreement in the CMP or by further discussions in the Assembly.
"The progress of this text is not finished, and following this first reading, it is still possible to arrive at a reinforced text, during the joint joint committee or at second reading", write the EELV deputies in their press release. .
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