It is sometimes difficult to be Gaullist and pro-European. Michel Barnier knows something about this, he who claims so much his visceral attachment to the inventor of the Ve Republic as its commitment to the community project. In an interview with Sunday newspaperpublished on October 20, the Prime Minister, who has twice been a commissioner in Brussels, leaves open the possibility of not always respecting European law, whose supremacy over national rights the general had difficulty accepting.
Michel Barnier thus evokes “a device – a form of moratorium, for example – which can postpone by two or three years the date of entry into force of very onerous regulations”speaking, in some cases, of “unreasonable standards and constraints”. “This applies in particular to European texts such as the CSRD directive [directive relative à la publication d’informations en matière de durabilité par les entreprises, qui renforce les obligations des entreprises en matière de publication de données sociales et environnementales]the scope of which should be re-examined”he continues, while this law has been applicable since 1er January.
In the name of administrative simplification, a request dear to Medef, the Prime Minister therefore recommends postponing the entry into force of certain European texts. Without saying more about his intentions. “Several avenues are being studied, with the aim of removing constraints on the implementation of the CSRD directive. The Prime Minister indicated a direction of work »specifies Matignon.
If it does not respect the deadlines set out in a European law, France is in breach and is exposed to prosecution before the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) in Luxembourg. “When a text is voted on, there are transposition deadlines, we cannot escape them”recalls Sébastien Maillard, of the Jacques Delors Institute.
“Right to violate Union law”
In fact, France is often late, in particular because it sometimes “overtransposes” community texts, a practice against which Michel Barnier wants to fight. “For France, being late is a bit routine, there is no need to make it a marker. Claiming it is political politics because a State is supposed to respect the law”deciphers a European source, who considers it surprising that“a former commissioner claims the right to violate Union law”.
It would not be the first time that Michel Barnier would be tempted to free himself from his past commitments. “We must regain our legal sovereignty” on the issue of migration, he had already declared on September 9, 2021, when he was a candidate in the primary of the Les Républicains party for the 2022 presidential election, thus attacking the very foundations of the EU.
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Source: Lemonde