Christophe Béchu, an ex-LR macron-compatible, at the head of the Ministry of Ecological Transition

Former Republican who has approached LREM since 2017, good connoisseur of the territories but discreet about his positions concerning the environment, Christophe Béchu succeeds, this Monday, Amélie de Montchalin at the Ministry of Ecological Transition.

Mayor of Angers since 2014, he only briefly held the post of Minister Delegate in charge of Local Authorities under the supervision of Amélie de Montchalin, whom he replaces. “The task is immense, I am committed to deploying all my energy to implement a concrete ecological policy adapted to the territories”, he reacted on Twitter.

“Symptomatic of the government’s lack of vision”

He will be supported by two ministers delegated to Transport and to the City and Housing and two Secretaries of State for Ecology and Rurality. “He is sensitive to the themes of ecology, biodiversity, housing and transport and he measures all the delays. Now he will have to go and win the arbitrations, ”commented Matthieu Orphelin, former head of the list of the left bloc at the regional level in Pays de la Loire. “He has the advantage of his very good knowledge of the territories,” he continued.

He will have “a busy and urgent roadmap”, on various subjects such as “adaptation to climate change, energy sobriety, management of water resources, restoration of biodiversity”, Nicolas told AFP. Richard, national secretary of France Nature Environnement (FNE). “We expect there to be human and economic resources commensurate with the challenges,” he adds.

Jean-François Julliard, director general of Greenpeace France, is much more critical. “Sixth minister in charge of ecology in five years, the choice of Christophe Béchu is symptomatic of the government’s lack of vision on environmental issues,” he criticizes in a press release. Christophe Béchu “has never worked directly or indirectly on an environmental file”, retorts on Twitter Sandy Olivar Calvo, spokesperson for Alternatiba. Other Internet users recall his vote as a senator against the ban on neonicotinoids and a column in Current Values ​​against same-sex marriage.

Close to Edouard Philippe

Christophe Béchu, a 48-year-old former senator, is one of the right-wing and center mayors deemed Macron-compatible: his name had already been mentioned for Territorial Cohesion during the reshuffle that followed the departure of Gérard Collomb, in October 2018 “I am not LREM, I am various on the right, even if I consider myself to belong to the presidential majority”, affirmed in 2020 the mayor of Angers who left LR in December 2017, after the arrival of Laurent Wauquiez in the head of the party.

This dissident of LR, who had taken a stand for Emmanuel Macron even before the presidential election, has several times supported the Head of State since, in particular in a forum after the disastrous European elections for LR and via “The Republic of Mayors” , a pro-Macron initiative launched with around thirty elected officials last August. Close to Edouard Philippe, he also embodies after the coronavirus crisis the institutional modernization advocated by Emmanuel Macron, for whom “everything cannot be decided from Paris all the time”. The head of state had already appointed him two years ago as president of the French infrastructure financing agency (AFITF).

Angers, “the most successful smart city in France”

Born June 11, 1974 in Angers, a graduate of Sciences Po, Christophe Béchu began his political career at the age of 21 as a municipal councilor in the town of Avrillé (Maine-et-Loire). President of the general council of this department from 2004 to 2014, he had narrowly failed to take the town hall of Angers in 2008. Finally elected mayor in 2014, after 37 years of socialist mandate, this father of three children was largely re-elected in 2020 from the first round, with the support of LREM but without an LR rival.

Promoter of soft mobility, he prides himself on having made the city of Angevin “the most successful smart city (intelligent and connected city) in France”, with its self-service bicycles and scooters. He was also briefly a European deputy (2009-2011), then a senator for Maine-et-Loire (2011-2017).