Yet once again the government of Jean-Pierre Raffarin could not pull the trigger. Opposition from conservative lawmakers and the automotive industry has stalled this prominent component of Raffarin’s so-called National Environment Health Plan, which aims to reduce diesel emissions and clean up the country’s water supply. Last week Ecology and Sustainable Development Minister Serge Lepeltier announced that more consultation would be necessary before the plan could be put in place. And who knows how long that will take. “The measure collided with other interests, especially economic ones,” says Jeraud Guibert, the Socialist Party’s environmental spokesman.
As the anniversary of last year’s deadly heat wave approaches, the SUV flap exemplifies why much of France has lost faith in its government. The administration’s response to the tragedy was remarkably lethargic, with ministers essentially caught sleeping at the beach while Paris burned. A report coming out this summer will show that pollution aggravated the deadly heat. Yet despite a subsequent government shake-up, Raffarin remains in office. And his performance in the intervening months has been marred by delays in health-care reform, failed preparations for another potential heat wave this summer, and two electoral debacles. Not surprisingly Raffarin’s approval ratings now stand at 32 percent, according to polls.
Many French leftists and environmentalists scowl at SUVs, the urban tanks that spit out two to four times the exhaust of traditional cars. Parisian Mayor Bertrand Delanoe, a Socialist, last month described SUV drivers as “irresponsible,” and the city announced its determination to ban them from city streets when pollution peaks. An internal government poll cited by the conservative daily Le Figaro last week puts public support for the tax/subsidy plan at 55 percent.
But the initiative failed for familiar reasons–a lack of coordination and of backbone. Conservative parliamentarians were furious that they didn’t learn about the environmental plan until it was announced in the media. “We don’t want to start stigmatizing [specific] categories of drivers,” Bernard Accoyer, majority leader in Parliament, told RTL radio. He argued against putting financial constraints on carmakers. France’s car industry, a key motor of economic growth in recent years, employs 300,000 people. Over at the Ministries of Finance and Industry, officials expressed fears that Brussels might see the tax as protectionist.
Previous failures contributed to this one. After a year of stumbles, Raffarin simply doesn’t have the heft to push major legislation through the system. “On these types of very complex issues, like the environment, you need a strong political will,” says Guibert. “But if, like Raffarin, you’re already weakened and you launch a key measure, you risk even heavier criticism. Raffarin doesn’t have any power left.”
Officials at the Ecology and Sustainable Development Ministry insist that some version of the plan will become law soon, perhaps as early as 2005. Before that can happen, though, it will have to make its way through a bureaucratic labyrinth that includes the Finance Ministry, French Parliament and even Brussels–which will require more deftness than Raffarin has shown up to now. “At some point, France needs to decide whether it is leading the way [in Europe] on environmental issues or merely following, otherwise we risk losing our credibility,” says a Ministry of Ecology official who spoke on condition of anonymity. For his part, Raffarin already has.
