The deputies of the National Rally and La France insoumise each submit their motion of censure against the government to protest the publication by decree on February 13 of the country’s energy strategy by 2035, it was learned on Monday.
Marine Le Pen had called on deputies hostile to this Multi-year Energy Programming (PP3) to submit a motion of censure, announcing that RN would do it otherwise. RN deputies submitted their motion of censure on Monday, a source within the group announced to AFP.
RN protests “on the form”, against “an illiberal act against Parliament”, and on the basis against “a growing policy that promotes intermittent energies, lies about nuclear power and poses a major risk to public finances”.
They believe that the government should have passed through legislation, under the energy code, and point to an “irrational choice” of intermittent energies dictated by the European Commission.
The motion of censure will be examined no later than Wednesday, due to a mandatory 48-hour period between submission and examination. It is unlikely to be adopted, as so far RN motions of censure have never been voted by the left.
In turn, the president of the LFI group in the National Assembly, Mathilde Panot, announced that her troops were submitting their own motion of censure.
“The parliamentary group insoumis submits a motion of censure against the government and proposes to deputies from the NFP to co-sign it. It is unacceptable that such decisions that commit our country for decades are made by decree, without debate or vote in the Assembly,” she wrote.
To be adopted, this motion of censure would need to be voted by the entire left and the National Rally. It seems unlikely that the Socialist Party, which has refused to vote on previous motions of censure against Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, will vote on this one.
The government unveiled its new energy policy strategy on February 12, after three years of intense debates and countless delays. Emphasizing the resurgence of consuming low-carbon electricity, mainly from nuclear sources, to replace costly fossil fuels imported, the government’s roadmap also includes less deployment of onshore wind and solar energy.
The Senate right also strongly protested the government’s choice to go through with the decree. A debate on the subject is scheduled for Monday afternoon in the Senate, at the request of the Chamber’s president, Gérard Larcher.
