Macron at Sorbonne: Energy key to French president’s ‘new European paradigm’

French President Emmanuel Macron set out his vision for the future of Europe, placing energy, including nuclear, at the core of his approach, in a speech at Sorbonne University on Thursday (April 25).

Macron’s lengthy intervention came as Europe debates its strategic and policy direction for the next five years, ahead of EU elections on 6-9 June.

Defending the Green Deal

Macron praised Europe “for meeting the challenges of the last seven years”, starting with the implementation of a climate and energy transition policy. 

“With the European Green Deal, Europe is the only one area in the world to have planned such a climatic transition.” 

He welcomed Europe’s embrace of a ‘state planning‘ approach. “Now we need to plan ahead and, above all, (deliver) the investment policy that goes with it.”  

A deeper energy union – based on electrification and nuclear

Ultimately, Macron wants a more integrated EU single market for energy, echoing proposals by former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta in his strategic report on the EU’s single market last week. 

Macron argued that “the sooner we make the transition, the sooner we’ll regain this competitiveness” contrasting Europe’s growth models with those of the US and China. 

For the French president, “decarbonised energy is the key to the climate, sovereignty and employment”, with electrification as key

“Europe must be an electric power, that’s the key”, he said. In other words, to become a market for “the free circulation of decarbonised electrons”.  To achieve this, the EU must invest in more connections to more closely link national electricity networks. 

Above all, Europe must invest in electricity generation. To this end, “we must take responsibility for building the Europe of the atom”, Macron said in a reference to strengthening nuclear power generation in Europe.

Climate targets can only be met by developing renewable energy, nuclear power, and energy efficiency, Macron said. 

To this end, he recalled the progress already made in this area, in particular, the ‘nuclear alliance’, a grouping of ‘nuclear-friendly’ European countries, which he believes should be “consolidated”.  

Initiated by France in February 2023, the alliance consists of about fifteen EU countries with common interests in nuclear development. 

Strategic autonomy

The president welcomed the progress made in reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian energy, the new practice of jointly purchasing energy, and the almost-finalised reform of European electricity markets.

In the same vein, Macron hailed the progress Europe has made “to defend our sectors” such as electric batteries and hydrogen via “a real strategy of autonomy” and by choosing to “end to our dependence on key materials: semi-conductors, critical raw materials”. 

Innovation, innovation, innovation

“The question of whether Europe will be a continent of innovation is being played out now,” Macron insisted, highlighting innovation in the energy sector as a central component of this.

In his view, the five key areas of innovation to be developed by the EU include small nuclear reactors, nuclear fusion, and hydrogen. 

In these areas, Macron called for greater European involvement than is currently the case, notably through joint financing of the so-called “projects of common European interest”. 

Looser competition rules, strong EU tariff borders

Macron argued that derogation from competition rules may be necessary to develop new European energy technology, as it is “the only way to respond to Chinese and American over-subsidisation”. 

In a similar vein, he called for stronger borders to maintain environmental standards by “improving and strengthening the border carbon tax”.

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, adopted at the end of 2022, sets tariffs for certain imports which come from countries with an insufficient price on carbon. At present, it covers only a few categories, such as steel, fertilisers and cement. 

[Edited by Donagh Cagney/Zoran Radosavljevic]

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