Future French Energy Mix: A National Debate

The French Government has initiated a public debate on energy that will involve the French population in a discussion of the main energy choices for France over the next thirty years, i.e. discussion on issues such as managing security and energy provision, nuclear and renewable energy sources.

The debate will take place during the first six months of 2003 and will be led by the French Deputy Minister for Industry, working in partnership with the French Ministers for Ecology and Sustainable Development, Works, Transport, Housing, and Youth and National Education.

To ensure a pluralistic approach, the Government has enlisted the aid of a committee of experts consisting of a sociologist-philosopher, the founder and former president of the French Academy of Technologies, and a scientific journalist who will make sure the debate is pluralistic and balanced: a consultation committee consisting mainly of members of Parliament and civil representatives will be in charge of communicating this debate to all elected French representatives.The national debate will target the general public with a special emphasis on the involvement of young people. Open discussions will be held in six major regions and cities, a dedicated website is already available at www.debat-energie.gouv.fr, and associations and organizations are being invited to participate, providing they comply with a partnership charter based on openness and plurality for a quality debate.

This national debate is the starting point in preparing for the future in several areas of daily life for the French population, and for initiating an ongoing dialog on energy issues. The conclusions of the debate will be used to draw up a General Policy Act on Energy Sources that the Government will bring before Parliament in 2003.

This debate, the first organized in France on a topic that has been perceived, for a long time, as sensitive and to be discussed only behind closed doors, has two main objectives:

• Respond to an overwhelming desire for information from the French population, seventy percent of which feel they are badly informed on energy issues and want clearer explanations and more transparency in energy choices
• Widen the scope of the citizen consultation process and place it upstream of the decision-making process for strategic choices on France’s energy policy over the next three decades.