Amélie de Montchalin and Agnès Pannier-Runacher were appointed, this Friday, respectively Minister for Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion and Minister for Energy Transition, two priority projects for the new Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne.
They were respectively Minister of Transformation and the Public Service and Minister Delegate for Industry in the outgoing government of Jean Castex.
“Make France the first major nation to get out of oil, gas and coal”
The duo form the structure proposed by Emmanuel Macron between the two rounds of the presidential election: a minister in charge of “energy planning” with the mission of “making France the first great nation to get out of oil, gas and coal” . And a second for “territorial ecological planning” in the field of transport or the renovation of housing.
After studying at HEC and Harvard, Amélie de Montchalin, 37, worked in the banking sector (BNP Paribas), then insurance (Axa) before being elected MP for Essonne in 2017 and entering to the government in 2019 as Secretary of State for European Affairs (2019-2020). In the Civil Service, several interlocutors have underlined his ability to dialogue since his arrival. Enarque, Inspector of Finance, experienced in both the public and private sectors, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, 47, is an early supporter of Emmanuel Macron.
Two Ministries Working Together
Joining the government in October 2018 as Secretary of State for the Economy, she was then in charge of Industry, laying the foundations for a reindustrialization displayed as green and carbon-free with the help of the recovery plan. His appointment was immediately welcomed by both nuclear and renewable energy manufacturers, reassured by the continuity. “She is interested in the nuclear sector”, “which will participate in the reindustrialization of France, a subject on which she worked a lot with Bruno Le Maire within the framework of her previous mandate”, says Cécile Arbouille, general delegate of the Association of French industrialists in the nuclear industry (GIFEN).
“For us, it’s rather positive because it’s a continuation of the work we started doing,” explained Céciile Arbouille. “We know it, we saw it when we had a subject on the revision of tariffs”, says Daniel Bour, president of the Enerplan solar union. The urgency, says the president of the Union of renewable energies (SER), Jean-Louis Bal, is to release all the renewable projects, in particular the wind mills, which are in queue. “It will be necessary to ensure that these two ministries collaborate, and what relationship they will have with the Ministry of the Economy,” he said.
Ecologists surprised, at least
Conversely, the profile of the two new ministers is not likely to reassure environmental activists, who accuse Emmanuel Macron of climate “inaction” and have twice obtained the condemnation of the State for non-respect of its emission reduction commitments. “It’s surprising, to say the least,” said Jean-François Julliard, director of Greenpeace France, noting the absence of a clear career path in the fields of climate and the environment for two ministers.
“These are not expected profiles,” he added. “But what is worrying is that both are considered loyal to Emmanuel Macron and what has been done so far during a lost five-year term for the climate. We will judge on documents”. “We have the feeling that it’s back for new disappointments on pollution, on the fight against drought, to stop climate change. It will take the intervention of the NUPES to initiate the ecological transition ”, reacted the secretary general of EELV Julien Bayou on France Info about these appointments.