why the attachment of Energy to the Ministry of the Economy raises concerns about the continuation of climate policy

Where has Energy gone in Gabriel Attal’s government? Looking closely at the list of the new Prime Minister’s tight team, announced Thursday January 11, one portfolio seems to have disappeared, and not the least: Energy. Exit the Ministry of Energy Transition, led by Agnès Pannier-Runacher since 2022. In 2024, Energy falls under the control of the Ministry of the Economy, according to Bruno Le Maire himself, who made the announcement in the columns of Figaroa few hours after his reappointment to the government team.

After absorbing Budget and Digital, this loyalist of Emmanuel Macron since 2017 recovers this strategic portfolio which had eluded Bercy for seventeen years. A change in supervision which could have serious consequences on France’s energy and climate policy, environmental defenders fear. “We are snatching Energy from the clutches of the evil ecologists of the Roquelaure hotel [siège du ministère de la Transition écologique] to revive nuclear power”, scathes Arnaud Gossé, lawyer and associate professor of environmental law at Paris 1 University.

Nuclear above all?

Barely becoming head of Energy, Bruno Le Maire marked his territory with a first trip to the Gravelines nuclear power plant (North) on Monday. “It is not because Energy is at Bercy that we are going to move backwards on climate transition”wanted to reassure the number 2 of the government, by affirming that he would work “in perfect intelligence” with its counterpart in the Ecological Transition, which fell to the very end of the protocol order. “I think it’s frankly a subject that can be shared between Economy and Ecology”tried to reconcile Christophe Béchu on Wednesday on France Inter.

In reality, we will have to wait for the publication of the attribution decrees to know the precise distribution of the different skills within the ministries. The hypothesis that holds the string is the appointment of a minister delegate to Bruno Le Maire, stationed in Bercy, in charge of Industry and Energy, according to several sources in the majority.

But there is no question of waiting for these adjustments for associations and NGOs. “We are afraid that with this transfer, the question of energy will only be addressed through the prism of nuclear power and that we will forget the development of renewable energies and energy savings,” alert Anne Bringault, program director at Réseau Action Climat.

A unraveled text

All these concerns were quick to materialize in Parliament. A few days after its presentation, Monday January 8, the highly anticipated bill on France’s “energy sovereignty” was stripped of any objectives in terms of climate and choice of energy. While working on the text, representatives of elected officials, NGOs, unions and employers were informed on Wednesday of these upheavals, which aroused the incomprehension and consternation of environmental associations.

From now on, the project, supposed to set the course for France to move away from fossil fuels [PDF]is deprived of its primary title devoted to energy programming. It aimed to set the proportion of renewable or nuclear energies in France by 2030 and 2035 and the objectives for reducing energy consumption. Only the sections on price regulation, consumer protection and the hydroelectric dam regime remain.

“We have decided to postpone the registration of this programmatic component [sur les objectifs fixés en termes d’énergies renouvelables notamment] in the law, explained the Ministry of the Economy. This time should allow us to finalize the consultation work on our energy and climate strategy.” Not enough to reassure the associative world. “I don’t mind being told about consultation. But there have already been countless working groups… We don’t really see what a new consultation could bring”says Anne Bringault.

When it’s blurry…

The vagueness maintained by the executive on the question of energy also risks, according to climate defenders, of destabilizing part of the administration organized for many years around climate issues. Since the Grenelle Environment Forum at the end of 2007, Energy and Climate have been treated jointly. In 2008, the Directorate General for Energy and Climate was born. “It’s an organization that works and is operational, argues David Glotin, advocacy manager for the Déclic collective association. The risk, with this change of supervision, is that we go back seventeen years, with a vision of industrial energy which forgets the fact that energy issues are completely linked to those of the climate.“

To avoid this disorganization, a group of senior civil servants and researchers, of which David Glotin is a member, published an article in The world in order to remind that “energy, climate and environmental issues can no longer be thought of separately”. The collective calls in particular on Gabriel Attal and Emmanuel Macron to maintain the supervision of the Ministry of Ecological Transition on energy issues, and to place only questions relating to nuclear power under joint supervision with the Ministry of the Economy.

Finally, a week after the reshuffle, many questions remain unanswered. “Who will represent France in the current European negotiations on reducing greenhouse gas emissions? Bruno Le Maire, Christophe Béchu or someone else?”, asks Anne Bringault, for example. Requested by franceinfo, Bercy kicks in and refers to the publication of the allocation decrees, which is long overdue.