French Greens prepare presidential poll with no-nuclear call

French Greens pledged to fight to rid France of nuclear energy in the next 20 years at their conference this weekend. The demand is part of the party’s programme for next year’s presidential elections. 

Reuters/Laetitia Notarianni

The Greens’ official manifesto will not be finalised until the end of the year, but by the end of this weekend convention on the Atlantic coast, delegates had defined the broad points, based on saving the planet, economic solidarity and social justice.

With support growing for their traditional opposition to nuclear power traditional boosted by the Japanese nuclear disaster, they called for no more nuclear in France within 20 years.

This idea was quickly dismissed by Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the current Minister for Sustainable Development. She told a TV interviewer that nuclear is one of many zero-emissions energy sources and it is unrealistic to expect France to leave it anytime soon.

In the party programme, the Greens also evoked massive investment in public transport and a revolution in the auto industry.

On the social front, there is the reducing the working week and creating a fairer tax system

The primary for the party’s presidential candidate opens in 10 days, online – with six likely candidates, headed by MEP Eva Joly and TV personality Nicolas Hulot.

Whoever wins is likely to play a decisive role in the election, as the Socialists may have to turn to them for support in winning the presidency from President Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-wing UMP.

The party in its present form, which goes by the initials EELV, was formed by the fusion of the Green Party (Les Verts) and another party called Europe Ecologie.

Hulot angered some of the party rank and file this weekend by indicating that he was prepared to form an alliance centre party leader Jean-Louis Borloo, who was a minister in Sarkozy's cabinet until a reshuffle last November.