Many countries would like Germany to take on more leadership in Europe, as expressed by President Macron in his Sorbonne speech of 2017. Macron wanted to put forward the idea of a European way, alongside Chancellor Merkel, to transform and recreate Europe. With regards to what that might look like, it could mean climate measures being coupled with social measures, or a radically decentralized approach could be adopted involving regional powers. Indeed, it echoes the approach being taken by the French-German Forum for the Future. Building on the local capacity for innovation, its mission is to discover and understand successful transformational models in municipalities and regions and make recommendations to both the French and German government.
Sébastien Treyer
Seen from France, we always have the impression that German subsidiarity and federalism mean that the territories are much better connected to national decision-making, whereas we, in France, would suffer from a very Jacobin way of decision-making from which we could not escape. Nowadays, though, France has some extremely well-designed regional experiments. We have set for ourselves a very ambitious medium to long-term objective: having regions with zero long-term unemployment, that are carbon-neutral, or even "energy-positive." And we try to involve entire regions in achieving these goals, and in the process, so as to change the ways in which economic actors, civil society, the social and solidarity economy, and local communities interact.
How do you assess the chances of success for Europe’s climate policy aims? Is the European Green Deal still a realistic goal?
Sébastien Treyer
Perhaps surprisingly for some, Merkel and Macron’s economic advisors still consider it to be feasible. However, even if questions remain regarding the other two-thirds of the French recovery plan that are not directly targeted at the green transition, the ambition is still asserted today. Many important trade-offs will have to be made, and if the social situation in France worsens, it is possible that we may end up going in the wrong direction and seek to rescue the economy as it is, rather than rebuilding towards a new economy. For me, the battle is not won, but momentum is still very strong, and the message sent by China and the Biden administration, in particular, is that modernity will be carbon-neutral and digital. For that to happen, we need the recovery plans, which involve huge amounts of money being spent top-down, to be understood by the public. There is a need for transparency in the operationalization of these plans and how they will serve the collectively-defined purposes of society. Currently, we can’t be certain that this will happen.
Patrizia Nanz
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