Julien Bayou, the national secretary of Europe Ecology - the Greens (EELV), calls on all political, union and association leaders to work around a project whose heart will be the "ecological transition in social justice" and a break with liberalism. For him, the current coronavirus crisis is "awakening the consciousness of many citizens who did not vote or who did not vote on the left, but who understand the urgency of profoundly transforming our model".
The projects of gathering the left are multiplying. Do you have yours?
JULIEN BAYOU . No. It is not for us to recreate a cartel of the left which would lead to an electoral junk. Our project is more ambitious. The current crisis is arousing the consciousness of many citizens who did not vote or who did not vote on the left, but who understand the urgency of profoundly transforming our model. Based on this desire for change, it is a matter of bringing about a great gathering for the ecological transition in social justice, a "transition block" intended to bring out a new political coherence capable of responding to the collapse that strikes us. The first step is to think together. This is why I proposed to organize "universities of the world according to"
Concretely, what does your initiative consist of?
It is not just a matter of parties. I have just written a letter to all political parties, but also to unions, associations, and to intellectuals and personalities to suggest that they think together. I will send it to the PS, to Génération.s, to the PCF, to rebellious France, to the CFDT as to the CGT, to personalities like the rebellious Matthieu Orphelin who seems to detach himself from macronism, Delphine Batho, Clémentine Autain, or François Ruffin who proposes an ecological popular front which I consider interesting. We will decide together on the date, the place, the guests who would participate in these universities.
Is it "all behind the Greens"?
The Greens impose nothing. We are not hegemonic. On the other hand, we are determined that ecology is the pivot of the alternative, because nothing will be possible without solving the question of climate. Look at this crisis: it clearly shows that the liberal response which places the obsession with growth above the human and the ecological weakens our societies even more and in particular the most vulnerable populations. It is therefore urgent to radically change the model. But for that, you need a balance of power. I'm working to create it.
So it is on a radical ideological basis that you want to bring together?
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It is the situation experienced by millions of people that is radical. The planet is burning and our country is suffering. It is from this observation that we must start. If we go back to old moons, then we are sure to repeat the same errors. We therefore assume to be iconoclasts. Ecology shatters the dogmas of productivism and globalization. These are all the policies carried out for 25 years, including under governments that called themselves left, that we refute. Focused on the short term, they have led us into an ecological dead end. Based on the reduction of public services, investments in hospitals, they have produced social desperation. It is not ideological to see this.
You are a pro-European party. Are you going to be able to get together with Eurosceptic Jean-Luc Mélenchon?
It is up to rebellious France to say its position. At EELV, we are pro-European, and that is precisely why we are not satisfied with the way Europe works and are working to make it progress.
Does Yannick Jadot, whose project of society is more reformist than radical, agree with you?
Of course. Everything is clear between Yannick Jadot and me. We both assume to propose a completely different path than that of Emmanuel Macron. His management of the coronavirus crisis was disastrous. Unpreparedness, lies, approximations, arrogance, and, ultimately, indifference to the social situation. France deserves better than this mess. It is urgent to raise the wages of those who allowed us to hold out during confinement, to establish a moratorium on the most precarious rent arrears and to establish a guaranteed social income, starting with the automation of the RSA and its opening to 18-25 year olds.