Climate Policy Engagement Analysis
Climate Policy Engagement Overview: The French Business Federation (Medef) is actively engaged on climate policy in France and at EU level with predominantly negative positions. Despite increased supportive communications on high-level issues such as the EU’s 2050 carbon neutrality goal and the need to transition the energy mix, the organization appears to remain largely opposed to an ambitious and stringent regulatory framework on climate change.
Top-line Messaging on Climate Policy: Medef supports some climate ambition in its top-line messaging, however with significant exceptions regarding the need for climate-related regulation. In a September 2023 interview, Medef President Patrick Martin supported the UN Paris Agreement and reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. However, in an August 2023 interview, he stated that the EU tended “to overregulate and underinvest”, referring to the bloc’s response to the US Inflation Reduction Act. The President also stated support for the Antwerp Declaration in a news release published in March 2024, which entails revising existing legislation under the EU Green Deal and avoiding implementing detailed regulation.
Engagement with Climate-Related Policies: Medef appears unsupportive of EU and French climate legislation. The association advocated for positions misaligned with the EU’s original ambition for its carbon pricing policies. For example, in a November 2024 CEO Statement, the association did not support key elements of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) reform, including by advocating to strengthen instead of reducing indirect cost compensation. Medef also advocated against the proposed phase-out of free emissions allowances from 2026 in a February 2025 joint press release. In a June 2024 joint position paper, the association called for a simplification of the CBAM and additional protection against carbon leakage, including export rebates, positions which are misaligned with the EU Commission’s original policy ambition.
Medef has engaged positively on renewable energy legislation, including by supporting more ambitious renewable energy targets in a May 2024 press release, and by supporting measures to boost the deployment of renewables in the EU Electricity Market Design reform in a June 2024 joint position paper.
Positioning on Energy Transition: Medef seems to take predominantly negative positions on the energy transition. On its corporate website, accessed in August 2024, the association broadly supported the decarbonization of the economy, including by replacing fossil fuels with renewables and nuclear energy. However, Medef has repeatedly supported a continued role of fossil gas in the energy mix unaccompanied by timelines aligned with IPCC guidance, for example in a May 2024 Joint B7 Declaration. In the November 2023 Brussels Declaration, Medef supported new exploration and production of fossil gas in the EU.
InfluenceMap collects and assesses evidence of corporate climate policy engagement on a weekly basis, depending on the availability of information from each specific data source (for more information see our methodology). While this analysis flows through to the association’s scores each week, the summary above is updated periodically. This summary was last updated in Q2 2025.