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PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
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DE RUEHFR #2104/01 3191743
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141743Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4859
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 002104 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV ENRG EGHG
SUBJECT: FRENCH REORGANIZATION IN RESPONSE TO 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
 
REF: STATE 116939 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary.  Under the Sarkozy government 
France has created a "super-ministry" that merges 
ecology, energy, transportation, sustainable 
development and regional planning into a single 
ministry.  The new organization is headed by a 
Minister of State senior to all other ministers. 
With an approximate staff of 80,000, the ministry 
has under its authority six main directorates, a 
host of specialized high-ranking civil servants, 
three inter-ministerial delegations, nine scientific 
organizations, fourteen training centers, and eleven 
departmental, regional, interdepartmental and 
interregional bureaus.  The Ministry was designed 
to internalize environmental and other social 
externalities in policymaking on key energy-intensive 
sectors.  End Summary 
 
SarkozyQs Vision: Ecology Super-Ministry 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (SBU) Throughout his Presidential campaign, 
Nicolas Sarkozy pledged to put environment at the 
center of his government, telling voters that 
archaic economic policymaking structures neglected 
to take into account environmental impacts.  Once 
elected, Sarkozy gave an environmental face-lift to 
the French administration by creating the Ministry 
for Ecology, Sustainable Development and Regional 
Development (MEDAD).  Formally announced in June 
2007, MEDAD had authority over energy, 
transportation, and regional planning, as well as 
environment and sustainable development.  MEDAD 
underwent reorganization in March 2008 to become the 
current Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable 
Development and Regional Development (MEEDDAT), with 
a workforce of 78,000 full-time staff. 
 
MEEDDAT: A Transversal Concept 
------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) The reorganization process at national and 
regional levels continues, and the physical merger 
of various departments will take three more years 
before the process is finished.  This restructuring 
has elevated MEEDDAT to one of the most important 
ministries in the GOF, and in principle allows for a 
holistic approach to growth that takes into account 
environmental externalities, including climate 
change. 
 
Key Players 
----------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) MEEDDAT Minister Jean-Louis Borloo holds 
the title of State Minister, with a ranking of third 
most senior official in the government after the 
President and the Prime Minister.  Four Secretaries 
of State work under BorlooQs supervision: Dominique 
Bussereau, Secretary of State for Transportation; 
Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet (NKM), Secretary of State 
for Ecology; Hubert Falco, Secretary of State for 
Regional Development (Amenagement du Territoire); 
and Christian Blanc, Secretary of State for 
Development of the Paris area.  Other key players 
include BorlooQs head of cabinet Jean-Francois 
Carenco, Climate negotiators Brice Lalonde, Peter 
Carl, and Secretary General Didier Lallement. 
 
Crackerjack Climateers 
---------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Lalonde was appointed Ambassador 
Responsible for Climate Negotiations, serves as a 
senior advisor for the Environment and Energy 
Agency, and as a consultant to major companies and 
local governments in the fields of environment, 
energy, and development. (Note: Lalonde is also a 
childhood friend and first cousin of U.S. Senator 
John Kerry. End note)  Danish national and former 
European Commission Director General for Environment 
Peter Carl was hired by the GOF to spearhead the 
EUQs Energy and Environment package and push EU 
climate negotiations. 
 
MEEDDAT On Message 
------------------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) MEEDDAT clearly has achieved a degree of 
success in stitching together environmental and 
 
PARIS 00002104  002 OF 002 
 
 
energy/transport goals.  Despite a few high-profile 
contretemps Q notably on a GMO bill and on eco-tax 
proposals that went too far, too fast for the rest 
of the GOF -- Post generally gets consistent policy 
messages from different divisions of the sprawling 
ministry.  What Ecology State Secretary Kosciusko- 
Morizet told us in October largely tracked with what 
we heard earlier from MEEDDAT's Director General for 
Energy and Raw Materials.  Similarly, an October 
meeting on the EU's climate and energy package with 
the Dane Peter Carl was wholly consistent with what 
we heard from MEEDDAT's head of energy efficiency, 
and from the Ministry's Secretary General Lallement 
in a separate meeting.  Policy tensions undoubtedly 
remain, but in a relatively short period of time the 
Ministry has become remarkably coherent in its 
messaging. 
 
Priorities and Implications for the United States 
------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The GOF is operating in two largely- 
consistent spaces on climate change and environment 
issues.  Domestically the focus is on the "Grenelle" 
bills, the robust French environmental legislation 
that will ultimately lead to establishment of 
environmental enforcement provisions, while 
internationally the focus is on the EU Climate and 
Energy package, which will feed into the UNFCCC 
process.  Other priorities include eco-tax reform, 
pursuing a carbon/border adjustment mechanism as 
part of the EU's Emissions Trading System, nuclear 
power as a means of fighting climate change, and 
various issues related to agricultural policy. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) There are some ecological issues outside 
of MEEDDATQs purview.  From a sustainability 
standpoint, biodiversity and compliance concerns on 
fisheries fall traditionally to the Agriculture 
Ministry.  Energy security responsibilities reside 
primarily in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  An 
MFA reorganization, scheduled to take effect in 
February, 2009, will result in the creation of a 
"globalization" bureau combining global/multilateral 
issues, environment, energy and development into a 
single directorate.  Current Economic Affairs 
Director and FASS Christian Masset is slated to head 
up the new directorate. 
 
ALLEGRONE