In total it is 164 sectors and subsectors

The arms of iron on the carbon tax is continuing. Yesterday, the Medef has asked the Government a little more delay in implementing the new carbon tax, up to the 2011 Finance Act. After the censorship of the Constitutional Council and the Government's decision to postpone to July 1 the creation of this new tax on carbon, the President of the Medef, Laurence Parisot, considers the current "incoherent" device and requires that the Government "is the time" to conduct a job specialization On the merits, the employers ' organisation insists that the European directive on quotas applied to 1.018 French industrial sites, is already in itself a cost for companies, which must each year reduce their CO2 emissions. The objective is to reduce emissions by 21 by 2020 from 2005 levels.

Global competition

The Medef said in particular that quotas distributed enterprises will be more free from 2013, even for the sectors considered sensitive to global competition and where energy is an important part of production costs. The directive provides that the distribution of quotas to facilities must be made by taking as point of departure the analysis of the performance of 10 of the most effective in each sector, and indeed as early as 2013. Companies that pollute more than the average may still purchase quotas on the carbon market. A study by the Ecofys cabinet shows that, for all the sectors, the gap between the current average performance of companies and one of the most effective would lead to an obligation to purchase to 8.4 billion euros of quotas for French industries with an average price of a tonne of CO2 on the European market estimated at EUR 30 per tonne. Today it reaches about 13 euros.

164 sectors and sub-sectors

Yesterday, the "Official Journal of the European Union" has published the list of areas deemed likely to be even partially free cap beyond 2013, which had been made public last September. In total, it is 164 sectors and sub-sectors. It is a sort of list in the Prévert, which includes both the mill as the manufacture of bicycles, sporting goods, toys or underwear. To be successful, the sectors should meet two cumulative criteria: see their amputee gross added value of more than 5 auction and be exposed to more than 10 to international competition - unless the impact of the auction on their gross added value exceeds 30, as in (39) cement or lime (60). These two sectors, which represent 30 of emissions of CO2 in Europe, therefore were automatically selected. But some analysts have pointed out that, because of the crisis, they undergo a less strong carbon constraint because quantities of cement produced have decreased by 15 in 2009. They will be sellers on the market of CO2 this year, unless they choose to keep their quotas in the expectation of the resumption.

In the Government, the iron arm continues between the ministries of economy and ecology: the latter would urge to reduce the social costs of companies rather than to offer a credit (for green investment) as suggested by Bercy. The position of Jean-Louis Borloo, who refuses to speak publicly, is supported by the Economist Alain Grandjean, of the Fondation Nicolas Hulot, who considers that a modern taxation must weigh more on the level of pollution and less on labour.