France towards the EU climate neutrality policy and the challenges of the energy transition in the third decade of the 21st century

Abstract

The aim of the article was to present the role of France as an active participant and architect of European climate policy. Negotiations around EU climate neutrality by 2050 were one of the priorities of the French Presidency of the Council in the EU in 2022. President Emanuel Macron's political declarations and the assumptions of the French government's energy and climate transition laws and programmes from 2015 to 2023 were analysed). The study found that Paris is smartly entangle its own national preferences into the European agenda while adaptation to the requirements of EU climate policy is becoming an instrument for restructuring the economy and a driver for the French energy transition to lead to economic growth, employment and 'economic sovereignty' (autonomy).