Yesterday, the Assembly adopted a new version of the constitutional bill « supplementing Article 1 of the Constitution and relating to environmental protection », during its second reading.

An amendment introduced by Pieyre-Alexandre Anglade (LREM) and adopted calls for the additional paragraph to be worded as follows: France «ensures the preservation of the environment and biological diversity and takes action against climate change.».
According to the majority, this wording represents a compromise between the National Assembly’s initial version and that of the Senate—a claim the opposition disputes, arguing that the use of the term «guarantees» creates ambiguity and constitutional legal uncertainty. It is therefore likely that the Senate will reject the text, dashing hopes for the referendum sought by the President of the Republic.

In practical terms, this is a rather crude three-cushion billiards game being played by the head of state: either the Senate approves it, and a referendum—one with little at stake but sure to succeed—is held; or the Senate rejects it, and the majority pins the blame on the Senate to win over the more moderate Green voters.

It is worth noting that the Environmental Charter, which has been included in the preamble to the Constitution since 2005, says more or less the same thing and has the same constitutional legal effect. Once again, this is a a punitive, Manichaean, politicized, and rootless perspective the triumph of environmentalism