At the beginning of August, parliamentarians had mainly expressed themselves against his arrival at the head of the energy regulator, but they had not gathered the qualified majority necessary to have this appointment desired by the Elysée.
Le Monde with AFP
Former Minister Emmanuelle Wargon was formally appointed at the head of the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) by President Emmanuel Macron, according to a decree published on Wednesday August 17, the opposition of a majority of parliamentarians having been insufficient to block this appointment.
“By decree of the President of the Republic dated August 16, 2022, M Me Emmanuelle Wargon is appointed president of the energy regulatory commission”, we can read in this brief Text published in the Official Journal .
M Me Wargon, 51, was, during the last five-year term, Secretary of State for Ecology (2018-2020), then Minister of Housing (2020-2022). A candidate for the legislative elections in Val-de-Marne in June, she was beaten in the first round. In accordance with the rule enacted by the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, the ministers beaten during this election had to leave their duties in the government.
The former minister had been proposed in July by the Elysée to chair the CRE, the independent authority responsible for guaranteeing the proper functioning of the French energy markets “for the benefit of the consumer”, a mission all the same greater with the energy crisis on international markets. It is this commission that offers regulated gas and electricity prices in France.
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At the beginning of August, parliamentarians had mainly expressed themselves against his arrival at the head of the energy regulator, but they had not gathered the qualified majority necessary to have this appointment desired by the Elysée.
She had collected 43 votes for and 48 against her appointment within the two chambers. According to the Constitution, parliamentarians must however bring together “at least three fifths of the votes cast” to oppose an appointment proposed by the president.
During his hearings in front of the parliamentarians, M Me Wargon had assured them of his independence. “I got involved politically, this commitment ends with this appointment,” she said, adding wanting to lead the crest “in complete freedom”. “This appointment (…) leads me to turn the page on the policy. In accordance with the commitment made during parliamentary hearings, I will exercise my mandate in complete independence, in the service of the French,” she said, quoted In the Cre.
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During her hearings, she had sketched three challenges: “supply security and energy sovereignty”, “consumer protection and the competitiveness of our businesses” and “the acceleration of the ecological transition”. “To achieve all these objectives, we must work on sobriety and efficiency, the development of renewable energies and on support on nuclear power,” she said.
“I am in favor of nuclear electricity, clearly”, “both on the maintenance of existing reactors and on the development of the new nuclear,” she said. In this regard, she had justified herself with regard to the final judgment of the Fessenheim nuclear power plant in 2020, while she was in government, very criticized by the right in particular. “The Fessenheim closure decision had been made a long time before,” she said.