President Emmanuel Macron will mark the reopening of the National Maritime Museum on Monday in Paris and make announcements on fishing and transport at the Conference on the Economy of the Sea on Tuesday in Nantes, the Élysée announced. “Our access, our autonomy, our sovereignty pass through the sea, our interests as powers too,” underlines the presidency, recalling that France has the second largest maritime space in the world. “Every day at sea, our values, our interests, our future are challenged,” she notes, referring in particular to cyber and the submarine cables through which global internet traffic passes.
France’s “maritime vision”
The National Maritime Museum, closed for six years for renovation, reopened its doors on November 17 at the Palais de Chaillot with a completely redesigned scenography, a multisensory tour and a research space. It presents the “maritime vision” of France, with all the challenges of the sea for the sovereignty of the country, from energy to ecology, argues the Élysée. In Nantes, the president will return to “the major themes of environmental protection, competitiveness, sovereignty in logistics and energy”.
The Conference will bring together fishermen, shipbuilders, shipowners, local elected officials and associations near the first French offshore wind farm off the coast of Saint-Nazaire, in Loire-Atlantique. The Head of State will officially launch the four-month public debate intended to identify the sites on which around fifty similar parks will be installed by 2050. The objective is to establish precise maps of the locations as well in the Mediterranean as well as in the Atlantic, Channel and North Sea.
“Support” maritime transport
Emmanuel Macron will also make announcements in favor of fishermen, in a context of soaring fuel prices, and will draw up “prospects for this sector”, specified the Élysée. At the head of the third fleet of the European Union, hard hit by the consequences of Brexit and the surge in diesel prices, French fishermen currently benefit from aid of 20 cents per liter of fuel, until 31 December.
The Head of State also wants to “set out to reconquer our food sovereignty in this sector”, indicated a presidential advisor, while 80% of seafood products consumed in France are today imported. He will also return to the means of “supporting” maritime transport, including ports, towards the exit from fossil fuels by 2050.
Emmanuel Macron will also speak on the protection of the sea during COP 28 on Friday and Saturday in Dubai, in view of the United Nations Ocean Conference planned for 2025 in Nice.