After the invasion of the Russian army in Ukraine since February 24, and above all, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the word “sovereignty” often comes up, in France and in Europe, with its consequences on world prices energy or grain. Emmanuel Macron himself used this term 11 times, on February 26, during the inauguration of the Agricultural Show.
franceinfo: What does this term sovereignty actually mean?
Raphael Ebenstein: In agriculture, where France and even Europe nevertheless seem globally self-sufficient, this can only happen through an increase in the production of certain cereals.
The EU thus imported 10 billion euros worth of agricultural and agri-food products from Russia and Ukraine last year. Including soybean or sunflower cake, intended to feed livestock. Pigs are particularly fond of it. But also corn. The EU is indeed an importer, despite the large French production.
Hence the idea, raised this week by European Agriculture Ministers, of a possible use of land that is currently fallow, specifically to grow cereals there.
Another area in which sovereignty is at stake: energy. What are the ways to be less dependent on Russian gas?
Here again, the situations of France and the EU appear a little different. France is less dependent on it. Everyone agrees on the development of renewable energies, solar or wind. But Emmanuel Macron also pleads with his partners in favor of nuclear power. Message also relayed by the European commissioner, Thierry Breton, who considers necessary an investment of 500 billion euros, by 2050 on the scale of Europe, to build new power stations!
If we limit ourselves to France, the Head of State himself announced last month the launch of the construction of six EPR reactors by 2035, and about fifteen in total, by 2050.
But the search for sovereignty also concerns industry, particularly the automobile?
Yes, especially at a time of the revolution that awaits the sector, with the scheduled end, in the long term, of cars with internal combustion engines, replaced by electric models, of which a significant part of the production cost is made up of batteries today. now imported from Asia in more than 80% of cases!
Hence the announcement made in 2019 to create an “Airbus of the battery”, a kind of European consortium, with the construction of giga factory, mega-factories to manufacture them. France alone is aiming for a target of two million electric or hybrid cars produced on its soil by 2030.