HASfter a summer marked by climatic events, the return to politics promises to be just as hot. The French are beginning to be worried about possible energy shortages following the war in Ukraine, soaring prices and a blockage in the country with a National Assembly without an absolute majority. The government is preparing a sobriety plan, but should get it done no matter what because of the state of our public finances.
The subjects are not lacking and François Durovray, president of the Republicans of the general council of Essonne and close to Xavier Bertrand, is the guest of the interview of the weekend of Point.
Point : Climate change, inflation, energy crisis, war in Ukraine… Rarely has a return to school seemed so explosive. Are you worried ?
Francois Durovray: It can be explosive if we are unable to collectively find a new path. The crises we are experiencing are extreme, they are disrupting our way of life. Beyond the observation, the politician must draw a horizon, specify the stages, bring together the French. He cannot content himself with being a commentator on crises. If there is no political translation, yes, the return to school will be difficult.
Faced with soaring energy prices, a movement is developing in the United Kingdom, “Don’t Pay UK”, where some households refuse to pay the bill. Do you fear contagion?
I’m definitely worried. What’s more, because the spring electoral sequence did not make it possible to settle important questions. Emmanuel Macron evaded the presidential campaign. There was no debate. And when there is no debate, there is no mandate. And when there is no mandate, there is dissatisfaction. The government and the president must come down from their pedestal at all costs.
What do you think of the very dark vocabulary used by the President of the Republic?
The French are ready to hear the truth: it will be hard. What was embarrassing in the words of the President of the Republic is that they are the opposite of what he said before: he spoke of “happy days” or “happy globalization”. Today is the end of recklessness, even catastrophism. He is in a counter-use exercise compared to the 2017 election. Beyond the verb, the French still do not know what macronism is.
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Precisely, there is no hope at all in the speech of the executive for 10 or 15 days…
In general, there has not been much hope in the discourse of politicians for 20 years! There is an inability to build a political offer and to say where we want to take the country. We just stopped thinking. The left has lost its credibility in communitarianism, wokism or even cancel culture. The right, meanwhile, has stopped thinking. Some have long thought that the gathering of the three families within the UMP was enough to be present in the second round. It’s wrong, and we’ve shrunk. There is a real challenge for the right to rebuild an offer that speaks to all French people. For a political party does not have to address particular segments of society, but the whole nation.
We confuse the announcement with the action.
Is there a problem with the long time? Are the politicians not too reactive?
I have been a local elected official for more than 20 years and I have never had difficulty explaining things, taking the time and building projects. The French aspire to the long term. Questions of immediacy should not distract us from this. We come to confuse the announcement with the action. We have to go back to basics: what do we want in 15 or 20 years? If we want France to remain a power in the 21ste century, we must deal in particular with the question of knowledge, of the ecological and demographic transition… to produce better, to live better, to better understand the world. It doesn’t happen in a year!
For example, Emmanuel Macron launched projects for new nuclear reactors, but they will be delivered in 10 years. But energy rationing is for this winter. The speech is difficult to understand.
It is incomprehensible! In 2018, the president and Élisabeth Borne, then Minister of Ecology, proudly announced the closure of 14 nuclear reactors, including those of Fessenheim. The situation would be different today if these disastrous mistakes had not been made. But now we have no choice. We must collectively make efforts and, at the same time, implement the ecological transition tomorrow. It is essential and it requires action. I am therefore in favor of the carbon tax on a European scale, but the revenue must be affected, it is on this condition that it will be socially accepted by the French.
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In her speech to Medef, Elisabeth Borne seemed to threaten companies: either they make an effort, or we will cut off the energy. You are at the head of a department with a large pool of companies. Will companies bear the burden of energy sobriety?
What jumps out at me is that she seems to be surprised. It was, alas, expected and the responses provided to date by the executive are too fragmented. I expect a comprehensive plan from the government. Short-term measures are indeed needed – aid or coercive actions. Of course, I am in favor of the idea of sanctioning a store that leaves its door open with the air conditioning on. However, this cannot be enough. You need to have an overall plan. Companies are actors like the others: they have to make a share of the effort, but they cannot do everything on their own.
The right must embody the ecology of progress. An ecology that brings together, mobilizes generations and consciences and asserts its confidence in science to raise.
What vision do you have on ecology?
At the antipodes of the edifying discourse inflicted on us by the French Greens, supporters of decline and prohibition, promoters of a dogmatic vision. The right must embody the ecology of progress, echoing the real expectations of the French. An ecology that brings together, mobilizes generations and consciences and asserts its confidence in science to meet the climate challenge. We have a word to build and I am working on it in my territory. This ecology of progress is based, in my opinion, on four pillars: preservation, decarbonization, sobriety and localism. We are putting this in place in Essonne: sensitive natural areas, local food, the fight against energy sieves, local energy production with geothermal energy or methanisation, etc.
Local elected officials also have their role to play…
Of course, like everything that affects the daily life of the French. I proposed to my fellow department presidents to initiate a pact with the Prime Minister to help the country meet the challenges of tomorrow: ecological, demographic, digital transition, education… The departments have these skills and the State, alone , can not all. Since 2017, local elected officials have proposed several times to the executive to work together, unfortunately we have not often been heard… When we are not considered as subcontractors of public policies.
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Are you in favor of a tax on superprofits?
Pitting actors against each other has never solved the country’s problems. We must embark all the French. Unfortunately, we take all the subjects by the small end of the telescope.
How’s the right?
The right has a huge responsibility. If we don’t make it, in 2027, it will be the extreme right. I also don’t want anyone to know, five years later, the fate of the PS. I don’t want M.me Le Pen one day imposes a right-wing Nupes. I will always be found to oppose it, because we have nothing in common with the RN. This is also a fight that I share with Xavier Bertrand.
With regard to the right, my political family, there is of course the question of incarnation – and the election at the head of LR is a first step – but above all you have to build solid projects! Valérie Pécresse’s failure was not her campaign or her personality, it was above all an uncertain ideological base for which we are collectively responsible. We have to rebuild. This means resuming the demanding work of thought, rediscovering the path of ideas, over a long period of time, meeting the French. Far from electoral marketing and the tyranny of media immediacy.
Xavier Bertrand made a good choice because he gains a share of freedom which is essential to speak to all French people.
What would the right project be?
We must offer the French people a way that allows us to live in harmony with the rest of life while having the ambition to continue to advance freedoms and social progress. This presupposes that we redo Nation. That we share a history, values, a democratic life and a relationship with the sovereign State whose authority is once again respected.
This then means reconnecting with the idea of progress, around school and work, to once again combine individual and collective destinies, to offer future generations hope for a better life. Our country has lived on credit for 40 years. Only the creation of wealth – and therefore work – will make it possible to improve purchasing power and meet the challenges of aging and ecological transition.
This transition, this new balance between man and nature, must finally lead us to question our relationship to the machine. The coming knowledge economy, based on digital technology, is both an opportunity and a risk. Within Europe, France has a unique voice to bring to humanize this relationship with the machine, in the face of the excesses of authoritarian regimes.
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Did Xavier Bertrand miss the boat by not running for the LR presidency?
No. I respect the political parties, they have a big role, but we must recognize that they are sick today. The construction of a presidential project cannot be imagined only within the framework of a party. Xavier Bertrand made a good choice because he gains a share of freedom which is essential to speak to all French people. I can assure you that he is fully aware of the seriousness of the moment and that his approach is driven by the obligation to help the country recover and still assert itself as a great power.