The French government reshuffle on Thursday (11 January) marked the end of the pairing of the Ecology and Energy Ministries, with commentators suggesting this marks a shift to an industrial conception of energy primarily focused on the relaunch of France’s nuclear industry.
Read the original French article here.
Following the French government reshuffle, which saw the energy portfolio return to the economy ministry, energy transition minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher has announced her resignation.
After 17 years together with the Ecology Ministry at the Hôtel de Roquelaure, the energy portfolio will return to Bercy under the auspices of the Economy Ministry, headed for the past seven years by Bruno Le Maire, who has been reappointed under the new Attal government.
Pannier-Runacher, who spent 20 months as Energy Transition Minister, left her post on Thursday. She has not yet commented on the matter, with rumours suggesting she may take over the health portfolio.
For his part, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire was keen to thank French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Attal “for their confidence”.
With the energy portfolio returning to the Economy Ministry, a new chapter is opening up in France’s energy transition, focused on industrial policy, commentators say.
“Energy at Bercy is good news: it’s the industrial transition of the century,” Antoine Armand, a French centrist deputy who led a special inquiry committee last year looking into why France lost energy sovereignty and independence, reacted.
In other words, “the separation of Energy and Ecology means the return of a primarily industrial and economic conception of energy”, noted environmental lawyer Arnaud Gossement on X.
“It’s a return to the idea of sovereignty that was announced in the ‘energy sovereignty’ bill,” he continued, referring to a bill unveiled on Monday (7 January), which will go down as the Energy Ministry’s last major achievement under Pannier-Runacher.
At the centre of the French energy sovereignty bill is the strong emphasis on nuclear power.
“The interpretation of this bill is now clarified by this major change in the organisation of the State’s administrative apparatus. The priority for electricity production is returning to nuclear power,” Gossement adds.
EDF at the centre of attention
Pannier-Runacher and Le Maire have worked closely together in this field, particularly concerning EDF, the now fully state-owned power utility that is the cornerstone of the French electricity system.
EDF was recapitalised by the State under Le Maire’s supervision in June.
In mid-November, Le Maire, flanked by Pannier-Runacher and EDF CEO Luc Rémont, announced the company’s future nuclear business model with great fanfare.
The deal is largely backed by the Economy Ministry, as well as the French electricity sector, which is dominated by the nuclear industry.
“Energy and industrial sovereignty go hand in hand,” agreed the Union française de l’électricité, an association that brings together players in the sector.
For EDF, the next stage promises to be eventful as it includes financing existing and new nuclear power plants, constructing new reactors, and recruiting more than 100,000 people in the sector.
Nationalisation of EDF seen as 'inevitable' to carry out France's nuclear plans
The nationalisation of French energy giant EDF was “inevitable” because of the “huge amount of regulatory and economic constraints” put on the company as well as France’s new ambitious nuclear programme, according to Professor Jean-Michel Gauthier.
Climate policy on the backburner?
For others like Philippe Martin, who was minister for ecology and energy in 2013-2014, the end of the ministry is “bad news”.
“The ‘energy’ aspect is essential to keep a balanced path in the ecological and energy transition,” he said on X.
“The transfer of the energy sector to the Economy Ministry is a scandalous step backwards and a further illustration that the energy policy of Emmanuel Macron’s government boils down to an obsession with reviving nuclear power, whatever the cost,” added an alarmed Greenpeace.
For Jules Nyssen, President of the French Renewable Energies Union, separating environmental and energy issues is also a “bad signal”.
“It seems to me […] particularly necessary that a ministry should have responsibility […] for steering the transformation of our energy system so that it can make the most of the abundance of different energy resources,” he commented on LinkedIn.
Consequences in Brussels
As Energy Transition Minister, Pannier-Runacher went on a pro-nuclear crusade in Brussels, winning numerous concessions from her counterparts for the recognition of nuclear power at the EU level.
“The probable absence of the Minister for Ecology [or Energy] from the meetings of European energy ministers is worrying,” says Martin.
In the absence of an energy minister, who will represent France at the EU Energy Councils from now on?
In Germany, Robert Habeck, who leads a “super ministry” combining the Economy and Climate Action, attends EU energy councils in person, although his Secretary of State, Sven Giegold, sometimes takes his place.
Creating a mega-ministry like Germany’s “would have been more inspired than separating ‘ecological transition’ and ‘energy’,” argued Joseph Dellatte, a researcher in climate policy at the Institut Montaigne.
For the time being, Le Maire’s closer involvement in energy topics could also revive Franco-German relations.
According to sources in the Bundestag, relations between Pannier-Runacher and Habeck were so sour that the pair refused to make joint appearances at Franco-German parliamentary assemblies.
On the contrary, Le Maire, a self-confessed Germanophile, is seen as an asset in relaunching Franco-German dialogue on energy issues.
For now though, the energy portfolio in the economy ministry remains vacant. And no one is quite sure whether it will go to a dedicated secretary of state or whether the portfolio will be attached to the Office of Minister Delegate for Industry, Roland Lescure.
France, Czechia defy EU sceptics on nuclear power
France and Czechia reiterated calls on Tuesday (9 January) for the European Commission to put nuclear power on an equal footing with renewable energies in all EU policies, putting traditional nuclear sceptic countries on the defensive.
[Edited by Frédéric Simon/Nathalie Weatherald]
Read more with Euractiv
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Source: euractiv.com
