ARTICLE FROM 7/7/2023 – 7:52 am | UPDATE 07/09/2023 – 8:52 am
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“Recreating hope”: the Economic Meetings of Aix-en-Provence, in the south of France, will bring together from July 7 to 9 hundreds of bosses, ministers and experts to rethink a world upset by crises.
For three days, around sixty debates will be accessible free of charge on the Internet, bringing together around 380 economists, political leaders from all walks of life, business leaders, trade unionists and other representatives of civil society of around forty nationalities around subjects resolutely turned towards the future.
HIGHLIGHTS OF FRIDAY JULY 7
Energy transition and investments: levers for sustainable economic growth
In an uncertain economic context, has the recession in France only been postponed? Are developed economies doomed to limited growth?
According to Mathias Burghardt, member of the executive committee of the French investment company Ardian and responsible for its infrastructure activity, the energy transition represents a powerful lever for an economic rebound. He points out that there are already many investment projects in new technologies, decarbonization and energy efficiency.
Although these investments are growing worldwide, the needs remain considerable. Mr. Burghardt believes that the energy transition is not only an absolute necessity to preserve the environment, but also an opportunity to modernize and transform the economy. The most successful companies from an environmental point of view will also be the most successful in terms of value creation.
According to Mr. de Boissieu, the digital revolution and investments in defense are other levers to stimulate the economy. He analyzes that structural reforms, infrastructure development and innovation can help increase growth potential, without reaching the level of Asian growth.
André Cartapanis, professor at the Aix-en-Provence Institute of Political Studies, underlines the imperative of provoking an investment shock and a change of scale on the macroeconomic level, during a round table.
The return of the state to industrial policy and the massive subsidies granted to attract industries of the future, such as semiconductors, marked a turning point. The United States and the European Union also provide significant subsidies for green industries.
However, according to Marc Burghardt of Ardian, it is essential to overcome the obstacles. What is at stake lies less in the amounts allocated than in the way in which they are actually implemented. Companies still come up against numerous administrative barriers, and measures in favor of the energy transition encounter opposition, such as the increase in taxes on carbon energies.
Mr. de Boissieu stresses that the impetus of the State does not necessarily have to translate into excessive spending. Rather, he pleads for public guarantees to accompany long-term investments, whose returns can sometimes be uncertain. This approach is all the more relevant as the government seeks to end the “whatever it takes” policy.
Ada Di Marzo, managing director of the consultancy Bain & Company, also pleads for the effective use of the precautionary savings accumulated by households since the Covid-19 pandemic. It believes that it is essential to increase the ability to take risks, and that the regulatory framework must encourage this audacity.
HIGHLIGHTS OF SATURDAY JULY 8
Could France run out of gas next winter? The CEO of TotalEnergies Patrick Pouyanné did not completely rule out this possibility on Saturday in Aix, stressing the weakness of European storage capacities and the cost of imports.
” In terms of gas, yes, the stocks will be full in October, said the boss of the oil and gas group. ” But if the winter is cold in Europe “, he warned, the storage capacities of the Old Continent will not be enough to meet the demand for gas from European consumers throughout the season. This does not necessarily mean that Europeans will run out of gas, but the imports needed to meet demand will have a high cost, warns Patrick Pouyanné.
” Buddy prices don’t work in a supply and demand market “, he argued.
Europeans, who have become very fond of American liquefied natural gas (LNG) since the cut in Russian supplies, are also dependent on the political context in the United States – the next presidential election is scheduled for the end of 2024.
” If the Republicans “, currently in opposition to Democratic President Joe Biden, “ decide to stop (LNG) exports, there is a systemic risk », Worried Mr. Pouyanné. On the side of Engie, the main supplier of natural gas in France, the general manager Catherine MacGregor said she was “rather serene” on the security of supply next winter due to the sobriety efforts made and new sources of energy. ‘import.
” But we will still remain on a very volatile system in the years to come. “, she added.
With regard to electricity – for which France is less dependent on foreign countries thanks to its 56 nuclear reactors – the CEO of EDF Luc Rémont also displayed his optimism in Aix, after a winter 2022/23 during which authorities were preparing for possible cuts due to the record number of reactors stopped for repairs.
” Production goes up. At this stage, we can say that we will approach next winter with serenity. “, he advanced.
Another reason for satisfaction, we start the summer with full dams ”, which should make it possible to produce more hydroelectricity than last year, when the drought had constrained hydroelectricity production.
An economy that “lacks momentum”
EU can build its own general artificial intelligence system within five years, says French economy minister
Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, said on Saturday that it was possible for the European Union to develop its own general artificial intelligence (AI) system within five years. According to him, this would help improve the productivity of an economy that “lacks momentum”.
” Thanks to artificial general intelligence, we will be able to regain productivity and be more efficient for the first time in several generations “, declared Bruno Le Maire in front of an enthusiastic audience.
” Before laying the foundations for the regulation of artificial intelligence, I plead in favor of innovation, investment and the objective of having a European OpenAI within five years, with calculators, scientists and the necessary algorithms. It’s possible. »
According to the minister, science will finally enable us to achieve productivity gains in a European economy that is under-powered and moving slowly rather than quickly.
In June, Bruno Le Maire had already stressed the need for the EU to invest and innovate in order to develop artificial intelligence systems, before regulating American technologies, at the risk of losing its independence.
At the end of 2022, the general public discovered the immense potential of artificial intelligence systems with OpenAI’s ChatGPT editorial content generator, which can write essays, poems or translations in seconds.
However, the dissemination of false images on social networks, created from applications such as Midjourney, has highlighted the risks of manipulation of opinion and the dangers for democracy.
In June, the European Parliament approved a draft regulation of AI and the EU hopes to conclude the first regulation in the world aimed at framing and protecting innovation in this strategic sector before the end of the year.
On a completely different subject, Bruno Le Maire was in favor of a debate on the possibility of increasing the inflation target of the European Central Bank (ECB) from 2% to 3%.
” If economists open this debate (…), why not? We have no taboos, transgression is how we progress “, did he declare.
The economist Patrick Artus spoke out in favor of such an increase, in order to allow the States to have greater budgetary margins and to limit the increase in their public debt.
STREAMING SATURDAY JULY 8
AMPHI 1
AMPHI 2
AMPHI 3
AMPHI 4
REPLAY OF OTHER SESSIONS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries
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(With Bloomberg, AFP and Reuters)