The Senate once again approves its energy programming law, despite government discord

The bill by Republican Senator Daniel Gremillet (Vosges) was adopted overnight by 221 votes to 24 on second reading. It must now return to the National Assembly at the end of September, where the inaugural debates on the bill were already chaotic, leading to its rejection on first reading at the end of June.

Beyond the adoption of this text, which was not in doubt in the upper house which initiated it, the debates in the Senate have above all brought back to the table the exchanges of the last few days.

The government coalition has been weakened by the head-on opposition between the Macronist camp and the right, since the leader of the Republicans (LR) - and Minister of the Interior - Bruno Retailleau published an article in Le Figaro in which he called for an end to "public subsidies" for wind and photovoltaic power.

"A platform whose findings and recommendations I deplore in many respects," insisted Industry Minister Marc Ferracci (Renaissance) before the senators, assuring that "certain renewable energies are very competitive."

He advocates "a balanced energy mix combining the power of nuclear power and the potential of renewable energies"... Two pillars which feature prominently in the text being examined in Parliament.

14 new reactors

The LR group, the leading force in the Senate, has for its part endeavored to explain that its vision was not incompatible with that of Bruno Retailleau, who is also the co-author of the text debated in the Senate.

"There is absolutely no contradiction, because the financing of renewable energy falls under the finance bill. This is where choices will have to be made," insisted LR Senator Alain Cadec.

But, in a sign that the debate is far from being settled on the right, the LR president of Île-de-France, Valérie Pécresse, revealed a different position from Mr. Retailleau, in a contribution published by La Tribune on Sunday in which she castigated "the sterile war" reopened between nuclear and renewables.

The left did not fail to step into this breach, castigating these disagreements as well as the absence of a financial component in this programmatic law, put up for debate without an impact study or opinion from the Council of State.

"What impact will this law have on the price of electricity? On the necessary amount of public investment? On our climate trajectory? On our sovereignty? We don't know. It's irresponsible," protested environmentalist Yannick Jadot. The environmentalists voted against it, while the socialists and communists abstained.

The Senate majority nevertheless defends its vision, which it considers "balanced": on the one hand, a massive revival of nuclear power, including the construction of 14 new reactors; on the other hand, objectives for the growth of renewable energies with, by 2030, a share of decarbonized energy of at least 58% of energy consumption in France, compared to around 40% currently.

This architecture was the subject of negotiations between the government, senators and deputies of the former presidential majority, to the point of almost reaching a consensus.

No moratorium

In any case, the moratorium on wind and solar energy, which had sparked a spate of controversy in the National Assembly, convincing groups in the former Macronist majority to vote against the entire text, is no longer relevant: it can no longer be put up for debate due to the rules of parliamentary procedure.

The Senate was not in favor of it anyway, even though it voted for a measure specifying the need to "give priority to the renewal of existing installations" rather than the establishment of new projects.

The senators also called for the government to wait until the final adoption of this law before finalizing its multi-year energy plan (PPE), the energy trajectory that it intends to publish soon by decree.

The decree will be published "before the end of the summer," Mr. Ferracci nevertheless assured... A deadline incompatible with the second reading of the text by the deputies at the end of September, then the holding of a joint committee expected in mid-October to arrive at a common wording for both chambers of Parliament.