French parliament dismisses proposal for a pause on solar and wind energy projects.

France's National Assembly has today denied an amendment from right-wing parties that sought to impose a moratorium on solar and wind energy projects. The majority voted against the proposal, which had been briefly approved by a small group in parliament the previous week. If the amendment had passed, it would have halted all approval processes for large-scale wind and solar facilities.

Minister for Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, stated that a moratorium on wind and solar energy would be “unreasonable” and urged MPs to act responsibly while reviewing the energy future of France. The French government had already enacted a moratorium on wind and solar in 2010, which significantly disrupted the solar industry, led to the near-total shutdown of the solar feed-in tariff scheme, and resulted in the loss of 20,000 jobs in the photovoltaic sector.