By AUDE LE GENTIL
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— The government is renouncing for good an energy and climate programming law
-There to do list by Christophe Béchu
— The agrivoltaism decree arouses desire for recourse
Hello everyone, It is Wednesday April 10 and you are reading the second issue of Energy & Climate Morning!
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CLIMATE OF NO LAW. While many actors were hoping for a parliamentary debate on France’s climate and energy objectives, this option has been ruled out by the government, your newsletter was informed by several sources within the executive. The other measures in the text on energy sovereignty should be divided into several legislative texts. My colleague Alexandre Léchenet sums it all up in this article.
Let those eager for debate rest assuredthe publication of the decrees on energy programming and the low carbon strategy will give rise to a public consultation under the aegis of the National Commission for Public Debate, where they will be able to make their voices heard.
As for those who would like a fissa text, a ministerial advisor recalls that the French strategy was shared in the fall, and that there are no surprises on the government’s vision since 2022. “Since the Belfort speech, we have been consistent on the evolution of the energy mix, the ENR boost. Visibility on the situation is very clear, it just needs to be supplemented with regulatory texts.
At 9:30 a.m., hearing of Pascal Berteaud, general director of Cerema, on adaptation to climate change, by the sustainable development committee at the National Assembly.
At 14 hours, Brittany COP meeting in Rennes.
At 4:30 p.m., hearing of Luc Rémont, CEO of EDF, by the Senate commission of inquiry into the price of electricity.
BECHU’S DUTIES. Like every minister, Christophe Béchu received his roadmap for 2024 on March 1, signed by Gabriel Attal. A document that your newsletter was able to consult exclusively. The coming year will be that of “landing” many files and implementation after planning, explains his office. Here’s what we learned:
First, a big piece, the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan. A list of “short and long term” actions will be presented “in April”, according to the minister’s office, then put out for consultation with a view to arriving at the final document “before the summer”. Gabriel Attal asks the minister to focus on the agricultural world, the insurance system and monitoring of floods in Pas-de-Calais.
Next, ecological planning. This is entering a phase of variation by sector and by territory, with the regional COPs, these exercises co-piloted by the State and the regions and aimed at refining avenues for reducing emissions at the local level (the penultimate is being held this afternoon, see below). Christophe Béchu will have to take advantage of this to “identify and unblock the obstacles”, then submit, “before summer”, “a package of measures to accelerate the ecological transition”, writes the Prime Minister.
Finally, a constraint: the deficit. As for other members of the government, Matignon is calling for suggestions for “structural measures which will contribute to the recovery of our public finances”. The disgruntled will recall that ecology already represents more than 20% of the 10 billion euros in savings decided in mid-February. But don’t talk about cuts: “The budget for the Ecological Transition has increased less than expected, but it is increasing,” insists an advisor to Christophe Béchu.
And it’s not over… The minister will also be responsible for the publication of texts on the reuse of wastewater (in the spring), a reform of the governance of the sectors which organize collection and recycling (in May), known by the gentle acronym of REP, the support for the 50 sites that consume the most plastic (before summer), or the One Water Summit (in September).
BARELY BORN, ALREADY DISPUTED. The decree on agrivoltaism published yesterday (finally! some would say) is already threatened. The Peasant Confederation is determined to file an appeal against the text, seeing “a threat to our food sovereignty”. The socialist deputies could provide them with support, informed my colleague Arthur Nazaret.
The competition has started. “This decree must be the subject of an appeal,” confirms a deputy with the rose, who says he is still studying the modalities. “For us, agricultural land must remain agricultural land,” adds MP Anna Pic (PS) who is not opposed to agrivoltaism in principle, but pleads for a limit of 20% of soil coverage by photovoltaics , in order to remain within the framework of “additional income”.
Numbers. The decree, eagerly awaited by the agricultural and renewable sectors, sets a legal framework for the practice. It currently limits the rate of soil coverage by panels to 40%, and specifies that the yield of the land concerned must not drop by more than 10%.
Other bell wires. In reflection, The restless Young Farmers are still analyzing the details of the decree but seem satisfied with the broad outlines. “Farmers remain farmers and do not become energy companies,” whispers a JA official. The photovoltaic lobby Enerplan welcomes “a first step” and so does the Renewable Energies Union.
GOOD COP, LAST COP. The last regional COP will be held this afternoon in Rennes, Brittany. This will be done in the presence of the regional president, Loïg Chesnais-Girard, and Antoine Pellion, general secretary for ecological planning. Christophe Béchu will follow the meeting by video. All that will be missing is Guyana to complete this work of “territorialization” of ecological planning.
Brittany is a special case : it had already launched its own regional consultation without waiting for the government. It is therefore more of a “progress point”, explains the minister’s office.
In the next episodesthe minister hopes to collect copies from the regions during the summer to assess their consistency with national objectives.
REMINDERE. The European Court of Human Rights has ruled Green MEP Damien Carême’s application against France for climate inaction “inadmissible”. The Court, on the other hand, ruled in favor of the Swiss collective of Elders for the Climate, ruling by vote to one that the Swiss government had “failed in its obligations” in the fight against climate change. My Brussels colleague Federica Di Sario tells you more here.
THE PENE IS IN THE ZAN. The list of projects of national or European scope (PENE) is finally ready. Christophe Béchu has issued the order listing the 244 projects selected, and is preparing to submit them for consultation, as your newsletter announced to you yesterday. These projects are deemed to be of major general interest and will therefore be recorded in a separate package within the framework of “zero net artificialization”.
Creating the list was not easy. MPs Bastien Marchive (Renaissance) and Mathilde Hignet (LFI), who were able to consult a draft, share the annoyance of certain regions. They outline their grieving in the ZAN law application report that they presented earlier in committee, and which your newsletter was able to consult in advance.
Grinding of teeth. Regretting that the list “is slow to be published”, the deputies echo the “imbalance” in the distribution of these projects between the regions. They recounted the case of Brittany, dissatisfied with only having 30 hectares of artificialization included in the list of PENEs, while it will have to shed its quota of 807 hectares in the name of solidarity between regions.
ASSURED OUTCOME. Parliament yesterday adopted the nuclear safety bill. We announced it to you closely, the vote in the National Assembly was ultimately not, the votes of the National Rally having ensured passage with a comfortable margin, by 340 votes against 173. The text would have passed without the votes of the RN, nevertheless wanted to let Roland Lescure’s office know.
Thanks to this text, the Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR) resulting from the merger of the ASN and the IRSN must see the light of day on January 1, 2025. The appointment “in the coming weeks”, again according to the minister’s office, of a prefigurer who will “accompany the process” must facilitate the rapprochement, in an electric atmosphere.
We-aren’t-tired. Some 300 IRSN employees gathered in the afternoon to protest against the announced merger, behind a van carrying a flowered coffin displaying the two logos of ASN and IRSN, my colleague observed. Nicolas Camut on site. Atmosphere.
— Wind and solar farms are producing at full capacity, forcing EDF to idle nuclear reactors. Bloomberg explains it.
— The European Commission is opening an investigation into subsidies for Chinese wind turbines deployed in particular in France, informed my colleague Stuart Lau. More details will come soon, hopefully.
— Luc Rémont, the boss of EDF, responds to Les Echos on the company’s capacity to build the new nuclear fleet, inviting us not to rush anything, and without giving too many details.
A big thank you to Judith Chetrit and our editor Alexandre Léchenet.
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