Public deficit, taxation of superprofits, industrial requisitions… Roland Lescure’s “8h30 franceinfo”

Roland Lescure, the Minister Delegate in charge of Industry and Energy was the guest of “8h30 franceinfo” on Wednesday March 27.

Roland Lescure, Minister Delegate for Industry and Energy was the guest of “8:30 a.m. franceinfo” on Wednesday March 27, 2024. Public deficit, reindustrialization, war economy, electricity prices and Flamanville EPR, he answered questions by Salhia Brakhlia and Jérôme Chapuis.

“Rigour” rather than “laxity” and “irresponsibility” in the face of the deficit

Asked about the formula of the Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, who affirms that the government must “continue on this path of rigor” to deal with the deficit, Roland Lescure, Minister Delegate for Industry explains that “the best way to resolve the public deficit problem is to reindustrialize”.

For him, it is necessary “continue to prepare the France of tomorrow”. It is better to call “rigor” rather than “relaxation” and to “irresponsibility”he defends. “Irresponsibility is rather” on the side of the oppositions, “notably from the so-called Republican right which proposed to the Assembly in the middle of a budgetary debate dozens and dozens of amendments for hundreds of billions of euros in additional spending. The lessons of budgetary responsibilities, we do not have to receive some” judges the minister.

As France’s public deficit reaches 5.5% in 2023, the government is exploring several avenues to make savings. Emmanuel Macron and the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire have already ruled out a tax increase.

Taxation of super profits

“I will be extremely careful before saying taxa, taxa, taxa and more”reacts Roland Lescure while the President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, put the question of the taxation of superprofits back on the table in the face of the challenges of the public deficit.

“In France, today, there are super-companies which are super-creative, super-innovative, which have super-results and which already pay super-taxes”, he adds. There is “a sector apart: energy”.

Requisitions, “a little pressure” to increase “rates”

“Maybe we need to put a little pressure” on companies, declares Roland Lescure, while Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces, affirmed Tuesday that he did not rule out resorting to requisitions in industry to accelerate “the cadences” arms production.

France wishes to adopt a logic of“war economy” to continue supporting Ukraine, but “we are not going to transform washing machines into tanks”quips Roland Lescure, but “we need to increase the pace a lot, a lot”.

For now, the government is committing “a conversation with defense industrialists”supported Roland Lescure, while half-heartedly threatening that “everything we voted for can be implemented.” The military programming law contains a provision which allows the production of military equipment to be prioritized over civilian equipment within industries.

Some 201 factory creations in 2023 compared to 176 in 2022

Roland Lescure, Minister Delegate for Industry, announced 201 creations or expansions of factories in 2023 compared to 176 in 2022, according to figures from a new industrial barometer launched during the Global Industrie fair which takes place this week in Villepinte (Seine). -St Denis). In 2023, there will be “57 new factories and 144 increases in production,” he specifies. While France’s textile sector has been at half mast for years in France, the minister is delighted to announce the creation of “20 more factories in textiles”. Moreover, “We have Les Petits Bateaux which is increasing its production line. We have Le Coq sportif which is going to be present at the Olympics, which dresses our athletes. We have Le Slip français, which is an exceptional French company. We are setting up factories in France . This is good news” he rejoices.

EPR Flamanville, “we are not two weeks away”

“We’ve been waiting for 12 years, I was going to say, we’re less than two weeks away”. The Minister Delegate for Industry reacted to the announcement of a delay in loading fuel from the Flamanville EPR reactor. On Tuesday, the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) indicated that it would launch “in the coming days” public consultation on the draft commissioning decision, for 15 days, or even three weeks, before making its decision.

“We will see by the end of April what the ASN’s decision is”, adds the minister. EDF needs the green light from the nuclear watchdog before loading the nuclear fuel rods into the reactor. Until now, the energy company had announced that this would be done in the first quarter of 2024, a goal repeated several times. The date of connection of the Flamanville EPR to the network is maintained at mid-2024, according to the latest regulatory information from EDF. They date back to December 2023.

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Watch the full interview here