"Shifting our debates on energies to a reflection on the energy system" (Agnès Pannier-Runacher)

"We have not yet reached the maturity required to view the energy debate as one concerning the energy system. The debate is still siloed and polluted by polemics far from the core issues", Agnès Pannier-Runacher, French MP for the Pas-de-Calais department and former Minister for Energy Transition and Ecological Transition, told News Tank on 09/12/2025.

"France should take the initiative and act at European level to have the issue of intermittency recognised and to redefine certain merit order rules for our energy system. This is central to policy: how to optimise the energy system by combining four levers as effectively as possible, namely energy sobriety, energy efficiency, renewables and nuclear power. We need to assemble the most effective components to build a more competitive system. This is why I want to bring energy costs and competitiveness back to the centre of the debate on the energy system, beyond the French PPE. Stating targets for solar or nuclear capacity does not amount to defining an energy strategy[…] The renewables versus nuclear controversy is a controversy that…