NOstalgic and paradoxical, France has spent the last forty years replacing factories in its countryside with supermarkets and shedding crocodile tears over the end of a harsh but fulfilling era of industry, and on the advent of a comfortable but degrading society, that of consumption.
Like most of her predecessors, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne pleaded in her general policy speech to the National Assembly on Wednesday July 6 for regained industrial sovereignty. A report by the consulting firm PwC, published on Friday July 8, recalls that France is positioned among the last in the ranking of European countries in terms of industrialization, with 10.1% of gross domestic product only generated by manufacturing industry. in 2019, compared to a European average of 16%. This subject will be at the heart of the Economic Meetings of Aix-en-Provence, which are held from Friday in the Bouches-du-Rhône.
But how to do it ? Two fresh works illustrate both the challenges, the opportunities, but also the difficulties of bringing the industry back to France. The first emanates, Thursday, July 7, from the International Energy Agency (IEA) and concerns the manufacture of solar panels. It took about ten years for production, fairly evenly distributed between America, Japan, Europe and China, to switch almost completely to the side of the Middle Kingdom: 80% of production silicon, ingots, cells and other components is now located in China. It will be 95% in 2025.
Good luck to the bold
However, the needs will explode. If we want to respect the climate commitments, the IEA affirms that it will be necessary to multiply by four the number of panels installed and to double production. The challenge of relocation is not only political, but also environmental, since Chinese panels are produced with coal-rich energy, and also economic: 120 billion euros of investment worldwide and 500 000 additional jobs. An opportunity to seize for Europe?
The second comes from the Senate and underlines the limits of this exciting perspective. Devoted to economic sovereignty and handed over to Bercy on Thursday, he pleads for the revival of an ambitious mining policy in France. Recalling that many metals, in particular the rare earths, are present in smartphones, electric car batteries, wind turbines and solar power, he is campaigning for an acceleration in the issuance of exploration and mining permits. Good luck to the daring ones who embark on this profession on our territory, and whose simple attempts at exploration are generally met with blows of pitchforks or rifles.
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