Franco-German energy paper was worked on by Paris before reshuffle

Before the ministry was disbanded in the latest government reshuffle, former French energy minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher was preparing a joint paper to be co-signed by her German counterpart as a show of conciliation ahead of the EU elections – though whether the paper will now ever see the light is unclear.

Read the original French story here. 

On the energy front, France started the new year with the departure of Agnès Pannier-Runacher from the now-non-existent Energy Transition Ministry, as the portfolio was returned to the Economy Ministry in the latest government reshuffle earlier this month.

The former minister spent her two years in office trying to push through the French vision of nuclear power as part of the EU’s decarbonisation targets.

Her aggressive style caused a stir within the Franco-German partnership, which has been at loggerheads for years over the role nuclear should play in the EU’s transition away from fossil fuels.

However, according to four sources, the minister’s teams were preparing a “joint paper” on “steering Europe’s energy system” to ease tensions – though now the ministry has been wound up, the paper’s future is uncertain.

“There were ideas in the pipeline”

A source close to the matter told Euractiv France that “there were some ideas in the pipeline” for a joint paper between France and Germany, the aim being to “talk about shared issues”, including the development of renewable energies and the participation of consumers in balancing electricity grids.

The teams from the former energy transition ministry were also considering opening up discussions on EU funding for the energy transition – a point on which the Germans have always been reluctant.

Security of supply was also being considered, in particular, the development of a “standard interoperable capacity mechanism between several countries, including France and Germany”, the source said.

“The unification of capacity mechanism systems at the European level would facilitate the use of flexibility on the European grid” and thus the integration of households into its balance, they added.

A capacity mechanism is used to pay power plants to produce when demand reaches peak levels, and without which, these plants would not be profitable.

While France already has such a system in place, Germany is in the process of developing a permanent one.

EU elections in focus

Beyond the focus on energy, a joint paper was also of great political interest in the run-up to the European elections in June.

“The idea was also not to spoil 2024 by going beyond the divisions [notably on nuclear power] and to show that Europe is not just about confrontation; that there are more things that bring us closer together than things that drive us apart,” the source added.

“We have common interests, in particular, to push back the extremes” in the upcoming European elections, the source stressed, speaking after President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Berlin on Monday (22 January) to pay tribute to former German minister and architect of European integration Wolfgang Schäuble, who died at the end of December.

French cabinet reshuffle: Who will embody France’s energy policy in Brussels?

President Emmanuel Macron’s radical decision to scrap Agnès Pannier-Runacher’s Energy Transition Ministry leaves open the question of who will drive France’s energy policy in Brussels.

What happens to the work already carried out?

However, before Pannier-Runacher left her post, the work carried out in Paris was “still at an early stage”, according to the source close to the matter, noting that there had been “no exchange with Robert Habeck’s teams”.

Now, it is unclear how the work already done will be used in the future. The dossier is “on hold” and may not be reopened immediately, Euractiv France was told.

“No one knows at this stage whether the teams at the Ministry of the Economy will continue the work in progress or produce new work,” Christophe Grudler, the French Renew MEP who coordinates energy issues for his delegation, told Euractiv France.

According to the source, “It is difficult to know more without clarity on the division of tasks”.

In France, the energy portfolio has not yet been officially allocated. It could be given to Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, to the industry minister under him, or to a joint team on EU issues. It is also possible, although less likely, that the file will be assigned to a specific secretary of state.

The government is currently dealing with protests from the farming community and an outcry against the announced increase in electricity prices on 1 February 2024.

A common position by March?

“The right time would have been to present the paper in March, on the sidelines of the European nuclear summit in Brussels,” the source added.

If it is realised, the French teams did not rule out the possibility of circulating the joint paper beyond the Franco-German circle, suggesting that it would first be shared with the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg).

But even if work on the file is to continue, there is no guarantee that it will guarantee a long-term rapprochement between France and Germany, especially as the last attempt to forge ties on such issues did not go well.

While Germany and France had agreed on a “joint roadmap” for low-carbon hydrogen, the leaders ultimately wrestled with the definition of low-carbon hydrogen and how it would apply to European industry.

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[Edited by Frédéric Simon/Nathalie Weatherald]

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