The reindustrialization of France is more than ever a priority for Emmanuel Macron. The President of the Republic presented Thursday the main lines of the green industry bill, on which Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, and Roland Lescure, in charge of Industry, have been working since January, and which will be presented next Tuesday in the Council of Ministers. Its objective: "To accelerate the establishment of new plants." A number of measures have been taken in recent years, which have reversed the process of closing industrial sites, as shown by the net gain of 300 openings since 2017. However, this movement must be strengthened and accelerated.
One of the main proposals presented at the Élysée Palace concerns the acceleration of authorizations. "It's all a question of rhythm," says Emmanuel Macron. We can offer billions to industrialists, if we take two or three years to deploy them, it is too late." In theory, it takes nine months to obtain all permits; In practice, delays accumulate. "Today, we have to wait seventeen to eighteen months on average," regrets the President of the Republic. In Germany, the period is limited to eight months. The list of procedures before obtaining the holy grail of an authorization is part of an inventory à la Prévert: a building permit, environmental studies galore (impact study, characterization of wetlands, fauna/flora inventory, noise pollution, hydraulic study, soil pollution ...) and, finally, a public inquiry.
Electric car bonus
To make matters worse, these different phases are carried out not simultaneously, but one after the other. "To shorten, it is necessary to change this organization so that the procedures are carried out in parallel," insists the president. And to specify that "it is not a question of removing certain phases, degrading the requirement in terms of the environment". So there is no simplification. "We must be able to guarantee a maximum period of nine months, which represents a halving of the current period," says Emmanuel Macron. This will enable the France to become one of the best in class in Europe in this field. "For major projects of national interest, an exceptional procedure could be put in place to go even faster," promises the one who likes to present himself as the "master of clocks", even if many blame him for his propensity to procrastination...
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To accelerate, the president continues to tackle another French evil: the difficulty of finding land where to set up a factory. The executive will extend the principle of "turnkey" sites, which can receive industrial or logistical activities and for which urban planning and environmental procedures have been anticipated. One billion euros will be invested, via the Banque des territoires, in order to have 50 sites that can accommodate by 2027. And this without calling into question the objective of reducing the artificialization of soils. "There are 90,000 to 150,000 hectares of brownfield sites, while we need 20,000 to 30,000 for new settlements," Macron said.
The President does not forget the financial aspect. Aid in the form of a tax credit may be granted to companies. They could represent 25% to 40% of the investment. An environmental quality label will be created. It could be used in the purchases of public authorities, but not only. The first concretization will focus on the bonus to the purchase of an electric vehicle, which will now be granted "taking better account of the carbon footprint of the vehicle", according to Emmanuel Macron. The president specifies that it is a question of "supporting batteries and electric vehicles produced in Europe". A real revolution.