Prepared, coordinated, targeted attacks. This is the impression given by the recent speeches of several senior right-wing politicians against the Environment and Energy Management Agency (Ademe). It was first Gérard Larcher who lit the fuse on Saturday January 11 in an interview with Parisian. The President of the Senate then attacks the public establishment and its “4 billion budget and nearly 1,100 full-time equivalents”, estimating that “the question of the effectiveness of public spending arises”. Rebelote the next day: it is the turn of Valérie Pécresse, the president of Ile-de-France, to suggest on France Inter its pure and simple suppression, and the transfer of its credits to the regions. On January 14, after François Bayrou’s general policy speech, the boss of the LR group in the National Assembly, Laurent Wauquiez, listed, in front of the deputies, these operators – including Ademe – with the “utility doubtful” and at “very real cost”.
The offensive took many observers by surprise. “The action of Ademe is absolutely essential, and I am surprised that we are targeting it. If we really needed to make savings, there are many other areas where this could be considered,” assures François Gemenne, professor at HEC and member of the IPCC. Especially since this is not the first time that this agency, although considered essential for putting to music the complex score of the ecological transition, has been the subject of criticism. “Ademe must constantly justify its role, while it supports projects carried out by communities and businesses. If we cut its resources, the consequences will be serious: we will remain vulnerable to energy shocks and will not achieve our climate objectives “, warns a member of the High Climate Council.
The Association of Mayors of France (AMF) points out, for example, the “rigidity” of this state operator. “This organization is very centralized and generates standards, which ends up dispossessing political leaders of their decisions,” believes the co-chair of the AMF ecological transition commission, Jean-François Vigier. Guillaume de Bodard, president of the environment and sustainable development commission of the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (CPME), also criticizes “erratic governance. Each president brings a new strategy, but without real follow-up”.
Simultaneous and impromptu visits, at dawn… starting in April 2024, 11 agents dispatched by the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) carried out an audit on four of its main sites. After four months of work, a report concluded that the operator was generally well managed. And even recommended increasing its numbers. “If our model had been ineffective, this would have been legitimately reported,” argues Ademe CEO Sylvain Waserman. “The report is rather flattering, recognizes a government advisor. Above all, it is very rare that the IGF encourages recruitment. Generally, it is quite the opposite.”
A rivalry between the regions and Ademe?
It is perhaps not so much on the side of Ademe that we should look for inefficiencies. But rather in the dense jungle of transition support where we can detect duplication, blocking points and rivalries. Valérie Pécresse’s proposal is not innocent. Collaboration between the regions and Ademe sometimes leaves something to be desired. On the one hand, the public establishment manages the renewable heat fund – 800 million euros – and circular economy – 300 million euros -, and also operates part of the France 2030 plan – to the tune of 8.3 billion out of a total envelope of 54 billion euros. On the other hand, the regions have seen their mission in terms of ecological transition reinforced by the adoption of the 3DS law in 2022. This text plans to give them more room for maneuver on these subjects. They also manage the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
Common goals that cause friction. “Everyone prefers to defend their own interests rather than really collaborate, because everyone wants to put their logo on it. This reflects a real competition between administrations. Local elected officials seek to prove their usefulness, while the State wants to show that it supports “This dynamic takes place in a context where we are trying to compensate for the feeling of erosion of the public service. No one wants to give the impression of disappearing or giving up their place”, maintains Noam Leandri, secretary general of. Ademe enters 2016 and 2023.
In the territories, the operator has 17 regional directorates, including 13 in mainland France, as many as the number of regional directorates for the environment, planning and housing (DREAL). “The question of the coexistence, in the same region, of two entities responsible for the environment, arises”, estimated, already in 2013, the Court of Auditors. “The big job of the regional directorates of Ademe is to support the management of funds. This allows us to have a local point. However, it would not be absurd for the DREALs to take their place,” admits a former president of Ademe. A bad idea, according to Sophie Jullian, president of the agency’s scientific council: “It would be extremely detrimental to fragment its expertise capacity across French regions.”
This upheaval, desired by Valérie Pécresse, would not make sense according to Benoît Leguet. “Ademe’s regional directors are on the ground: they meet local stakeholders, understand the projects and their usefulness. I don’t see how this new organization would be more effective. Especially since the 3DS law has already established a dialogue between the State, the regions and Ademe”, underlines the general director of the Institute of the Economy for the Climate (I4CE) and independent member of the board of directors of the State operator. On an operational level, the contours of such a movement are currently unclear. “Who tells you that the region would take over all the Ademe civil servants?” asks Senator Nicole Bonnefoy (PS), member of the board of directors. “Ademe funds are allocated to specific objectives and cannot simply be redistributed to those who claim to be able to do better,” adds MP Anna Pic (PS). The regions, although they have the capacity for action important, cannot take care of everything alone.”
The maquis of transition aid
To carry out projects in favor of the transition, the State and its operators provide a multitude of aid. For businesses alone, the IGF identified no less than 340 schemes in April 2023. A problem that Pascal Canfin and green finance specialist Philippe Zaouati already raised, in a report submitted in 2019 to François de Rugy, then Minister of Ecology. “Companies must face great complexity in identifying their contacts according to their stage of development, particularly with decentralization which has added an additional layer, with the regions. We must work for better consistency between the different counters, both at the level national as well as European, in order to simplify access to financing”, says the MEP (Renew).
The two authors recommended in particular the creation of a one-stop shop. Despite a few attempts, quite the opposite happened. “Many actors, whether the State or the regions, have developed their own platforms, which has led to a dispersion of initiatives and conflicts over visibility,” laments Noam Leandri. Philippe Zaouati is campaigning for the creation of a trans-institutional team to coordinate all the actors involved, like Tracfin in the fight against money laundering. According to him, “the problem with agencies and organizations in general is that they tend to compartmentalize their actions, creating protected territories that everyone seeks to defend.”
This lack of clarity is currently delaying certain projects. “The objective must be to simplify access to decarbonization aid and make the journey for businesses smoother. We must put ourselves in their shoes, understand their needs and offer them understandable and intuitive support. This has now been more than three years that the companies questioned in our annual surveys express a strong expectation of support in their ecological transition. They resolutely want to act, but are often confused by the administrative complexity”, indicates the Medef. “The more readable and simple the systems are, the better it will work. An SME with 30 or 40 employees often has neither the time nor the resources to take care of it, especially since most do not have an environmental manager. We therefore need suitable tools to help them improve their skills,” adds Guillaume de Bodard of the CPME.
The threat of budgetary restrictions
As for calls for projects, led mainly by Ademe and Bpifrance, their form sometimes tends to slow down the process. “This system can even be counterproductive. Each company or community seeks financing through different channels. Today, we have to scrutinize calls for projects, which is time-consuming, energy-consuming and costly. It would be much more effective to have multi-year aid, with clear objectives and thematic support”, agrees Anne Lassman-Trappier, representative of France Nature Environnement on the Ademe board of directors. “Our role is to absorb the complexity of the processes to simplify the procedures,” replies Sylvain Waserman of Ademe. “We guarantee that each euro is invested effectively. All our calls for projects include a systematic evaluation, in particular of carbon efficiency per euro invested.”
In the very short term, those involved in the transition currently have another area of concern in mind. With a view to cleaning up public finances, the aid tap could dry up. “Today, there is a real risk that all the value created in recent years – from innovative start-ups to industrialists like ArcelorMittal – will be unraveled because of budgetary restrictions, warns MEP Pascal Canfin. Financial tools effective, with high leverage, risk being weakened or cut, which would be catastrophic.” However, businesses, like communities, have a vital need to plan ahead. Except that in a context of budgetary diet, transition aid risks taking a back seat.
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