Macron announces 30-billion euro plan for investment and innovation
October 12, 2021, 11:09 pm

Macron announces 30-billion euro plan for investment and innovation

France-Eiffel tower/Pixabay

The US News reported according to Reuters, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday, France wants to be a leader in green hydrogen by 2030 and build low-carbon planes and small nuclear reactors as part of a 30 billion euro ($35 billion) investment plan.

Macron said the road map, dubbed "France 2030", would ensure France decarbonises its industry and brings innovation and production in key areas, from cars and biomedicine to semi-conductors, closer to home by the end of the decade.

The report said, the long-term plan, outlined six months before the presidential election, was swiftly criticised by the opposition as electoral campaigning, but Macron said those targets were key to ensure France's rank in the world.

Pointing to a shortage of face masks when the COVID-19 pandemic first erupted, Macron said the crisis had exposed real vulnerabilities and the crucial need for France to have innovation and industrial production at home.

He said: "We must rebuild the framework for productive independence for France and Europe," adding that innovation would be key amid global competition for leadership and access to raw materials.

He added: "The winner takes all."

Setting out some of the plan's targets, Macron said France would by 2030 build a low-carbon plane, a small modular reactor as well as two megafactories for the production of green hydrogen. It would also produce large numbers of electric vehicles.

"We must wage the battle of innovation and industrialisation at the same time," Macron said as he outlined the plan to a group of entrepreneurs, adding: "We need a country that produces more."

Macron said the plan will give a key role to small, agile start-ups in building France's industrial future alongside well-established corporate giants.

CRITICISM

Other 2030 objectives include investing in semi-conductors and beefing up innovation in the French health sector, including biomedicine.

On top of the 30 billion euros in fresh public investment, some of which will already be included in the 2022 budget, French public investment bank Bpifrance will invest 4 billion euros in startups and innovative firms.

This all comes in addition to a 100 billion euro recovery plan announced last year to help France weather the coronavirus pandemic, a large share of which went to promoting greener energy policies.

The plan was harshly criticised by the opposition and environmental groups.

"A few months from the end of his mandate, the outgoing president commits French money to restore his electoral image with promises which only bind his successor," far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Twitter.

She said: "It's 'whatever the cost, I want to be re-elected!"

Matthieu Orphelin, a lawmaker who left Macron's party two years ago said this was Macron's "first campaign speech for 2022", while environmental group Greenpeace called it "a festival of false solutions and wishful thinking".

Greenpeace France director Jean-François Julliard said: "All these false solutions follow the same logic: constantly postpone the real (energy) transition and continue to produce as if the planet's resources were unlimited."

Source: usnews

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Upon arriving to participate in the summit of the European Political Community, which includes around forty heads of state in Budapest, he said, "I look forward to sitting with the elected U.S. president and seeing how we will collectively ensure we meet challenges, including the threats from Russia and North Korea." He also noted that the strengthening of ties between Russia and North Korea poses a threat to the United States as well, according to reports from Agence France-Presse.

Before Trump's victory, Rutte expressed confidence that a united Washington would remain part of the defensive alliance, even if Trump became the 47th president of the United States. In an interview with German public broadcaster ZDF last Monday night, he stated that both Republicans and Democrats understand that NATO serves not only the security of Europe but also that of America. He added that both candidates are aware that the security of the United States is closely tied to NATO.

On Wednesday, NATO congratulated Trump on his victory but did not address the Ukrainian issue.

It is noteworthy that the relationship between the elected U.S. president and the defense alliance was not the best during his first term in the White House. Trump criticized NATO member states multiple times and even hinted at withdrawing from the alliance unless they increased their financial contributions.

Additionally, the issue of the Russian-Ukrainian war is one of the matters that complicate relations between the two sides, especially since Trump has repeatedly stated that he can end this ongoing conflict, which began in 2022, quickly. He implied that he had a peace plan between Kyiv and Moscow, while his vice president, JD Vance, revealed aspects of that plan, which stipulated Ukraine's commitment not to join NATO, thereby sending reassuring signals to the Russians.

Furthermore, many NATO member states in Europe fear that Trump might halt military aid to Ukraine after he previously criticized the U.S. for pouring funds into supporting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.