Bruno Le Maire said on Wednesday he was “open” to possible amendments to the green industry bill which would allow mayors, who considered it “unacceptable” for the State to decide for them, to continue to be involved in the implementation of certain major industrial projects on their territory.
If the objective of the text “is to concentrate the procedure around the prefect” to speed up the process, Mr. Le Maire said he was in favor of “possibilities of amendments in the form, for example, of assent from local elected officials to decide on the location of “projects of major national interest”.
“The idea is good to make the State and communities work together”, reassured the tenant of Bercy, during a hearing in the Senate.
“A serious attack on the power of mayors”
In mid-May, the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) had “vigorously opposed” article 9 of the bill on green industry, which it believes “carries a new and serious undermining the powers of mayors.
She had criticized the government in particular for having allowed a “compatibility of Scot (territorial coherence scheme, editor’s note) and PLU (local urban plan, editor’s note)” for “projects of major national interest, which will be identified by decree”.
If passed, this measure would give the State “the competence to issue building permits, based on the existing provision for renewable energy projects”, had protested the AMF, which denounced “interference in the competences of local authorities in terms of regional planning”.
The bill provides in particular, for “projects of major national interest”, that the State takes control by decree of all the procedures.
“This exceptional procedure would only concern major sites such as gigafactoriesmulti-billion euro projects representing thousands of jobs,” the minister said on Wednesday.
The government has gone on the offensive on the “industrial reconquest” of France, presenting its bill intended to promote a low-carbon reindustrialization of the country, its main battle after the painful pension crisis.
The bill will begin its parliamentary journey in the Senate on June 19 and then on July 17 in the National Assembly, where the presidential camp, without an absolute majority, will have to convince beyond its benches.