Studied by senators, the climate bill arouses disagreements between the majority, the executive and the environmental opposition.
Monday evening, a debate took place on the issue of displays affixed to products sold in commerce, a point of article 1 of the bill.
The scene was in particular spotted by our colleagues from Public Senate.
Read also: Climate law: the Senate wants green ads on France Televisions
In its drafting which arrived at a public session in the Senate, the text indicates that a "
display intended to provide consumers with information relating to environmental impacts or environmental impacts and compliance with social criteria of a good, a service or a “a category of goods or services placed on the national market is made compulsory
”. This paragraph aims to "
improve consumer information on the carbon footprint of products
", by imposing a dedicated display, in particular in the textile sector, which consumes a lot of resources.
But, for left-wing senators, this project does not go far enough. Amendment 766, tabled by the members of the Ecologist group, thus proposed to replace the wording “
or environmental impacts and respect for social criteria
” by “
, respect for social criteria and human rights in production
”: in other words , it was a question of tightening the obligations of the environmental labeling of products, by integrating the respect of social criteria and adding human rights, where the initial drafting left the choice between only environmental criteria and social ones bonus.
Multinationals must control that their products are manufactured in accordance with fundamental human rights, explains the purpose of the amendment: the latter therefore aims "
to recall that the largest French companies have had the obligation, since 2017, to establish a vigilance plan for the risks of violation of human and environmental rights that their activity and that of their subcontractors induce
”.
Surprise adoption of the amendment
In public session, the government and the rapporteur opposed this change. "
Human rights are indeed one of the social criteria adopted,
" said Senator (LR) Marta de Cidrac. “
Article 1 provides for the possibility of extending posting to social criteria. Let us not systematize it, because it is not always relevant
”, argued for her part Barbara Pompili, while saying“
share the objective
”of the amendment. The Minister of Ecological Transition called for waiting for the conclusions of a mission carried out by the “
national platform for CSR of France strategy
” and whose report is expected at the end of 2021.
To everyone's surprise, the amendment was adopted, to the applause of environmental senators. But the wording of article 1 is set to change, the chairman of the regional planning and sustainable development committee, Jean-François Longeot, said a little later, a few minutes before the vote on the full article. : a "
second deliberation before the adoption of the bill is possible
", because "
we are no longer on the basis of article 1 as it was adopted in committee
". "
We can see if there is a total modification of the substance of Article 1
", he added.
Faced with the insistence of senators to understand the embarrassment of the chairman of the committee, Jean-François Longeot specified that "
amendment 766
" was problematic.
An announcement that aroused the astonishment and anger of elected officials on the left.
"
There is amendment 766, we are not going to call it into question, simply, we will vote on Article 1, but do not be surprised if, in the CMP (Joint Parliamentary Committee, Editor's note), there is a questioning. cause,
”he explained.
In the meantime, the climate bill continues its parliamentary path: it will be studied by the senators in the days to come, possibly until the end of June.
