France is refusing to pay up. Le Monde has learned the French government has no intention of paying out hundreds of millions of euros for failing to meet its European renewable energy target in 2020. French Minister for Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher made this clear to the European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson, in a letter dated October 20.

In 2009, as part of a European directive, France pledged to achieve a share of 23% renewables (wind, solar, hydro) in its gross final energy consumption by 2020 – up from 10.3% in 2005. Having only achieved 19.1%, they fell short of this binding target. France did have the option of achieving it artificially, as did Belgium, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Luxembourg and Malta, by buying up "statistical volumes" of renewables from states that had exceeded their own target. A year ago, Pannier-Runacher publicly estimated that the state would have to pay around €500 million for this delay, and had begun negotiations with Sweden and Italy.

Since then, the minister has changed tack. "We have played our part in the political effort to land ambitious texts on renewables, and we are one of the countries doing the most to reduce greenhouse gas emissions," she told Le Monde. "We're not going to let this happen for legal reasons."

In its letter to Simson, the Ministry of Energy Transition justifies its decision by highlighting the progress made by France. It points out that the country significantly increased the share of renewables in its energy mix (+46.1%) between 2012 and 2022, 10 points higher than the European average, and that France has one of the most decarbonized electricity productions in Europe, thanks to its large nuclear capability. "The result is a paradoxical situation in which France is being unfairly singled out," wrote Pannier-Runacher.

With France still having not achieved its consumption target of 23% renewables (20.7% in 2022), the ministry tells us that it has a "plan of action" to do so. On Wednesday, November 22, the government was due to publish the broad outlines of its new energy-climate strategy, which will call for a sharp drop in fossil fuel consumption and significant development of renewables.

The government says it is willing to compromise and to put its hand in its pocket, but only for renewable energy development projects. In its view, this would ensure compliance with European law. "Any outlay agreed by France on the ex post facto procurement of renewable energy production volumes from other Member States would have no effect on the volume of renewables consumed on EU territory," it said. On Tuesday, the European Commission had not replied to the letter. Contacted by Le Monde, it explained that it was "studying the elements" of the letter and "preparing a response."

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