Tax credit and reformed auto bonus to "accelerate" "reindustrialization"

The head of state had announced the color in an interview with Challenges: reindustrialization is "the mother of battles", he said, after having tackled in pain pensions, long presented as "the mother of all reforms".

"I am convinced that this battle, we can win it," he said Thursday at the Elysee Palace in front of the actors of the French industry. Reindustrialization also means "creating purchasing power" and "stopping the drop-out of this France of territories".

The first, unveiled on Wednesday, aims to set up "hypersimplified procedures" to "halve the deadlines" of a new industrial establishment in France, from 17-18 months today to nine months "maximum".

For this, while industrial land is scarce, the bank of territories will invest a billion euros to "decontaminate" existing wastelands and make them available, "ready for use", for future projects.

He also promised an additional 700 million euros to develop training for "jobs of the future" or "in tension" in industry.

-Fight back at Joe Biden-

Emmanuel Macron announced the creation of a "green industry tax credit" to support the production of batteries, heat pumps, wind turbines or solar panels.

It will be part of the green industry bill, expected Tuesday in the Council of Ministers, and according to him "will trigger 20 billion investments on the national territory by 2030".

As for the ecological bonus for the purchase of an electric car, it will be reformed to "take into account the carbon footprint" of their production and favor vehicles made in Europe. In China, the energy that makes it possible to produce them is still largely based on coal.

Emmanuel Macron presents his plan for the reindustrialization of the France, May 11, 2023 at the Elysee © Yoan VALAT / POOL / AFP

The same logic applies to public orders, which will take into account environmental criteria "for key decarbonisation products" such as wind turbines and heat pumps from July 2024 instead of 2026.

These announcements are intended to put into French music the European response to the very voluntarist, if not protectionist, policy established by Joe Biden in the United States to support industry and the energy transition. Emmanuel Macron had been in the autumn in the front line to push the Old Continent to arm itself in the face of this competition, and in the face of the rise in Chinese power.

The Head of State also called on the European Union to make "a European regulatory pause" in terms of environmental constraints, believing that they were already stricter than elsewhere and that "stability" was now needed.

"The president is not talking about suspension, but about executing the decisions already taken before making new changes," said the Elysee.

"There have been tangible results in recent years, so to continue, it seems quite good to us," Alexandre Saubot, president of France Industry, told AFP. Other industrialists have also welcomed the desire to "stabilize European regulations", such as Thierry Le Hénaff, president of the chemist Arkema.

But environmentalists are up in arms. "The French are asking for a pause on the implementation of the pension reform. Macron offers them a break on ecology," said EELV national secretary Marine Tondelier.

Emmanuel Macron presents his plan for the reindustrialization of the France, May 11, 2023 at the Elysee © Yoan VALAT / POOL / AFP

The executive believes that its policy since 2017 is beginning to bear fruit. It highlights the 300 net factory creations in France between 2017 and 2022, compared to 600 net destructions between 2008 and 2016.

The president even predicts the catching up "by the end of the five-year term" of the "shock of deindustrialization due to the crisis of 2008".

"This is not due to Emmanuel Macron," swept on France 2 the deputy La France insoumise Alexis Corbière.

On Friday, the head of state continues the sequence. He will visit the Dunkirk aluminum plant, "the largest producer of primary aluminum in Europe," according to the Elysee.

It must also "formalize new investments", including the establishment by the Taiwanese group ProLogium of a fourth battery factory for electric vehicles in France, for an entry into production from the end of 2026.

This investment is part of the announcements expected on Monday at the sixth edition of the "Choose France" summit held at the Palace of Versailles. This annual meeting launched by Emmanuel Macron in 2018 aims to attract foreign investment.

© 2023 AFP