France: Preserving investment in the energy transition in an unstable policy environment

This chapter begins by assessing the situation of public capital and investment in France. We show that public capital is overall less degraded in France than in other EU countries, even if, since the sovereign debt crisis, net investment growth has been sluggish. We then focus our attention on the energy sector, important both for the green transition and for strategic autonomy. Since 2009, greenhouse gas emissions have decreased by 33%, but the decarbonization of the energy mix in recent years has stalled. Today, France is at a crossroads; the coming years will be crucial in achieving France's decarbonization goals for 2030, and for 2050, the target date for reaching carbon neutrality. Past choices regarding public finances (entailing a reduced fiscal space), and a missing medium-term energy transition plan concur in threatening the continuity and stability of investment in the energy transition. The chapter concludes with recommendations on how to strengthen the French energy transition policies but warns that a European effort is essential to succeed in the energy and green transition.