A look at the white book

摘要

The French deputy minister for industry Nicole Fontaine, former president of the European Parliament, organised a public debate on energy from January to May 2003, to respond to claims of the 'green' faction of the public that energy matters in France were not transparent, especially those related to nuclear energy. The seven sessions were held in Paris (2), Strasbourg, Nice, Bordeaux, and Rennes (2) in the presence of Fontaine, and involved many contributions from a variety of events such as round-table discussions, lectures, exhibitions, and projections, all open to the public. Unfortunately the media did not report much of these debates. The Greens themselves declined to participate claiming that the debate was biased in favour of nuclear energy. The debates were monitored by a small group of independent energy experts and a member of parliament, helped by the Direction Generale de l'Energie et des Matieres Premieres (DGEMP) - a top-level group of young specialists, many of them graduates of the elite Ecole Polytechniquc. Its role in the Ministry of Industry is to follow the trends of energy and raw materials and to make predictions and recommendations to the government in a country largely devoid of energy resources. A 'white book' was issued on 7 November by Fontaine for the government and for the public at large. It contains proposals for an 'orientation law' on energy strategies for France for the next 30 years, which is to be discussed by parliament next year.