More than 250 NGOs and individuals are worried about the possible "extinction" of Ademe

A draft law notably provides for bringing together locally the agents of Ademe and those of the Regional Directorates for the Environment, Planning and Housing (Dreal), which act under the authority of the regional prefect.

This "effectively amounts to eliminating the regional offices of Ademe, diluting the expertise of its staff in structures that have neither their technical and scientific know-how, nor their connection with elected officials and local project leaders," worry civil society figures, such as Cécile Duflot or Cyril Dion, and NGO leaders (France Nature Environnement, WWF France or ATD Quart Monde), in an opinion piece published in Le Nouvel Obs.

"This raises the question of how Ademe, once deprived of the operational arm constituted by its regional network, will be able to concretely carry out the missions assigned to it?", the opinion piece continues.

"Such provisions mean the extinction, after a few years, of the Agency for Ecological Transition and of all the projects that exist or are launched with it," the signatories believe, praising the "scientific expertise" and "territorial roots" of the Agency and its action in favor of an "ambitious ecological policy".

The government, for its part, assures that there is "no question of abolishing Ademe", according to the remarks of the Minister for Ecological Transition, Monique Barbut, during a parliamentary hearing on April 15.

"We believe that Ademe must act more clearly within the State's sphere of influence. This is the purpose of the work being carried out. The objective is to improve synergies and the fluidity of working relationships between Ademe and the decentralized services of the State, while preserving the integrity and identity of the operator," Ms. Barbut repeated on Tuesday before the National Assembly.

Ademe, like other government agencies, has been the target for several months of virulent attacks from certain right-wing and far-right political figures calling for its abolition and judging in particular its operation to be too costly.