There is no shortage of obstacles to the reindustrialization of France. Would a dose of empathy make it possible to overcome them? The proposal is not taken from an improbable publication of which the social network LinkedIn has the secret, but from the very serious Academy of Technologies. Its new president Patrick Pélata – whom the Renault false spies affair had pushed to resign from his position as general manager – sees this as a major condition for removing the reservations that citizens might have about the arrival of factories on their territory. territory. “It is essential to organize public debates with as much sincerity and empathy as possible. The local fabric always has its specificities: if a company arrives with a large communication machine, it will miss out,” insists the specialist in the automobile industry, for which exchanges must lead to adapting projects when the need arises.
Notice to industrialists and communities. Even if France manages to attract an abundance of factory projects and to remove the land and skills barriers, it will still have to meet the challenge of acceptability. It’s not win. The long controversy surrounding the construction of the wind farm in the bay of Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor) is an illustration of this. Opponents of this project attributed to a subsidiary of the energy company Iberdrola – first and foremost the fishermen – have continued to denounce what they judge to be a lack of consultation, and to point the finger at the incompleteness of the studies. impact of this offshore wind farm.
Without commenting on the substance of the issues, the president of the Academy of Technologies insists on the fact that the industry will have to learn to “transform concerns into a desire to see projects adopted” thanks to existing discussion frameworks. And to recall the effects of deindustrialization in France. By becoming a country without factories, France would have destroyed nearly three million jobs between 1975 and 2014. In doing so, the country fell to 22nd place in Europe in terms of the share of industry in total employment. . This explains why the feeling of abandonment remains strong in many territories, as it has marked generations. It is up to companies to demonstrate their commitment to the lasting revitalization of the territory.