French elections: Far-right’s proposals go against the Green Deal

2 months ago 8

Many of the proposals put forward in the French national election by the Rassemblement National (RN, ID) and its allies, counter the European greenhouse gas reduction targets set out in the bloc’s Green Deal.

The programme put forward by the far-right RN party and its allies, unveiled on Monday (24 June), includes more than a dozen measures relating to energy, climate, and the environment.

The RN’s document makes clear that it wants to abolish the Green Deal, renouncing some of its policies, such as the 2035 ban on the sale of new fossil fuel cars.

The return of the fossil fuel car

In 2026 the European Commission is obliged to review its CO2 car standards law. The Commission is already facing pressure, to use this review to amend the de facto 2035 ban on internal combustion engine cars.

Along with pressure from member states, “a more right-wing European Parliament might want to go back on the target,” Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, an energy policy researcher at the Delors Institute told Euractiv.

Pushing back or abolishing the target, however, would have to be adopted by a qualified majority of member states. “The RN cannot therefore ‘renounce’ the measure on its own, as it claims,” points out Nguyen.

Abolition of Low Emission Zones

In its programme, the RN also wants to abolish Low Emission Zones (LEZs) – areas where certain vehicles are banned, based on pollution standards set out in the EU’s directive on ambiant air quality.

LEZs are not compulsory, but “it is virtually impossible to comply with pollution standards without a LEZ, in areas where there is a lot of traffic,” Zachary Azdad, vehicle policy officer at the NGO Transport & Environment, explained to Euractiv.

“Banning LEZs would condemn France to a large number of (EU) fines,” he added.

Lowering VAT

One of the emergency measures that RN leader Jordan Bardella would like to put in place is to cut VAT on energy products from 20% to 5.5%. This is possible under EU law for electricity and gas, but not for fuels.

The would require negotiating with the Commission to obtain a temporary and detailed derogation, or an amendment to the VAT directive, which would take several years.

Even if it was possible – any change would require unanimous support from other member states.

In any event, “the development of electric vehicles would be penalised,” warns Nicolas Goldberg, head of the energy department at think tank Terra Nova.

Renewable energy under attack

On wind power, the RN maintains its desire for a moratorium on new projects, not wanting to repower wind farms reaching the end of their life.

Concerning solar energy, the far-right party and its allies are calling for trade barriers to protect European manufacturers. Some in the sector argue that such a measure could put at risk the EU’s climate and energy objectives.

Whatever the case, “rejecting wind or solar power as proposed by the RN […] is both harmful to the climate and likely to prolong France’s dependence on imported fossil fuels,” writes Maxence Cordiez, associate energy and climate expert, at think tank Institut Montaigne, in an article for Marianne.

No sale ban for energy inefficient homes

The RN wants to “repeal” the French ban on selling and letting properties with poor energy efficiency standards.

The ban is not required by the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD). But the proposal “contradicts the spirit of the directive and will not help to achieve the (EU’s) energy performance objectives,” Nguyen believes.

European electricity market

Bardella also questions European electricity market rules, which link electricity prices with the highest power production costs, at any given time.

Deprived of inexpensive Russian gas, Europe’s electricity prices rose sharply during the 2022 energy crisis. Spain and Portugal benefited from a temporary derogation from EU market rules, which allowed them to soften the impact on energy customers.

Bardella is advocating for a similar derogation for France, even though the crisis has largely passed.

“It is very likely that the European Commission will reply that France is already covered by a derogation. In order to have a price close to the production price, there are already the Contracts for Differences,” Nicolas Goldberg tells Euractiv.

France already enjoys a derogation under the ‘Arenh’ scheme, in place until the end of 2025, freezing parts of the electricity prices paid by households.

Contracts for Difference (CfD) could be applied to France’s nuclear production, it would cap the price of electricity, redistributing any surplus while guaranteeing a minimum income for producers such as EDF.

[Edited by Donagh Cagney/Rajnish Singh]