France is using an interesting approach to developing policies for “the energy transition.” Rather than develop these internally, François Holland’s government has chosen to organize “national debate” on the country’s energy future. The debate is to begin tomorrow, 29 November. It is expected to produce a set of legislative proposals to be proposed in 2013. The minister of ecology, Delphine Batho, will be leading a working committee of six energy experts. Although the Le Monde article reporting on the event isn’t completely clear, it appears that this group is charged with distilling the debate and preparing initial draft proposals.
Tomorrow, the discussion will begin with a group of technical experts presenting several possible energy futures. These, in turn, will be debated by representatives of seven “colleges” including unions, management, local elected officials, members of the Assembly, consumer organizations, environmental organizations, and members of the government. Several environmental groups have expressed unhappiness over the make-up of the working group, particularly the presence of two individuals considered pro-nuclear. Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth decided not to participate. Reportedly, they objected in some manner to the way the debate was being organized and to the delay in fixing the date.
I’m curious about this “national debate” as an approach to governance. In theory, Holland and the Socialist Party could have offered a program for energy transition during the presidential campaign earlier this year. For whatever reason they didn’t. Maybe they felt it was too risky a subject and their first priority was to get elected. So now what? How much shaping and direction does the government apply? How open is the debate? What happens once the working group goes to work? I’m somewhat skeptical of the "national debate" model, but I'm very interested to see how it works.
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