We now have two decisive levers: the technological lever mentioned above and the cultural lever. The European population is much more sensitive to ecological imperatives; social norms are changing, and market trends are evolving. But we still need to change policy rules and regulatory frameworks to make such systemic change possible. That is precisely what we are doing with the Green Deal. Second, a new method of negotiating transitions is needed. Faced with the challenges of transforming our agriculture and mobility, escaping our dependence on fossil fuels or proposing a circular economy that no longer overexploits resources, we must make profound changes in our economies. There are many potential areas of tension and competing interests, and there is nothing worse than giving in to oversimplification. The time has come to build the conditions for this transformation - to build the "how."
Our society is complex, and people are complex. They are caught up in contradictions and material constraints. The green transitions of the 21st century must be negotiated in the same way as the social negotiations that built the welfare state in the 20th century. That is why, in both France and Europe, I am pushing for sector negotiations that will enable us to overcome the obstacles we have encountered thus far. Let’s use truckers as an example. The debate usually focuses on reducing the tax subsidies they receive on diesel fuel, which is a subsidy that costs taxpayers billions and goes against our climate objectives. But by doing so, we are making the weakest link in the value chain pay the cost of the green transition, when their economic equilibrium is already precarious. As a result, threatening the French government with blocking a traffic circle is enough to curb any existing reformist ardor. And nothing changes. We need to turn the problem on its head and create the conditions that will allow truckers easy access to cleaner trucks that they cannot afford on their own. And, of course, the electric or hydrogen charging infrastructure must be financed so that the deployment of clean trucks can occur in the first place. This must be paid for in part by the community and in part by the players in the value chain - not only truckers, of course, but also shippers, principals and so on. All this necessitates a negotiation that has not taken place yet. This example can also be transposed to agriculture, housing and other impacted sectors. That is why, in addition to the normative shock represented by the European Green Deal, we must develop a method and a culture of negotiating green transitions, as we did throughout Europe in different but convergent forms for the creation of the welfare state in the 20th century.
The European Green Deal is an exceptional endeavor. Should we succeed, we will be able to make Europe even more meaningful - as the driving force behind a new prosperity model for the 21st century, just as it once was for modernity and economic revolutions.
Copyright : JACQUES DEMARTHON / AFP
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