Without an absolute majority in the National Assembly, will Elisabeth Borne be able to implement the government’s ecological program? The departure of Amélie de Montchalin, the Minister for the Ecological Transition beaten in the legislative elections, does not make her task easier.
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Is the Emmanuel Macron version of ecological planning nipped in the bud by the result of the legislative elections? A National Assembly without an absolute majority to advance the environmental projects of the executive and a ministerial trio supposed to implement them weakened: the picture is not good for ecology – yet promoted priority of the government – Monday, June 20, at the day after the second round.
First disappointment: Amélie de Montchalin, the Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, loses her seat as an MP. Her defeat on Sunday in the 6th district of Essonne condemns her to leave the government, under the rule enacted by Emmanuel Macron. This departure comes barely a month after this figure of the macronie climbed the steps of the steps of the Hôtel de Roquelaure, headquarters of a ministry which still does not deny its nickname: the ministry of the impossible. His predecessors often had short tenures. But there, Amélie de Montchalin sets a record for brevity. In particular, she was in charge of very heavy files: the energy renovation of housing, transport, biodiversity.
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Coming from the ranks of Les Républicains with an economist profile, she was already struggling to rally the actors of ecology to her banner. Elisabeth Borne will have to find a new rider. Difficult task for a Prime Minister who also seems weakened by the ballot. Even if she managed to pass in her constituency of Calvados, her legitimacy is already disputed by the parliamentary oppositions. Yet it is she who bears direct responsibility for ecological planning, “the fight of the century”, according to Emmanuel Macron. There remains Agnès Pannier-Runacher, Minister of Energy Transition, who was not a candidate for the legislative elections.
Does the absence of an absolute majority in the Assembly risk curbing the ecological ambitions of the executive? The question was to be one of the strong markers of the start of the five-year term with a bill devoted to the ecological emergency this summer. In particular, it plans to develop renewable energies more quickly. The two electoral campaigns this year have shown the deep differences between political forces on these subjects: an RN very opposed to wind turbines, Republicans also unconvinced. and a divided left on nuclear power.
In her speech following the results on Sunday, Elisabeth Borne promised to identify what she called “action majorities”, including on environmental texts. A goldsmith’s work in perspective. The ambition of these bills will undoubtedly reflect the agreements made by the majority in the Assembly, forced to negotiate in order to govern.