G. Decorzent: “High-quality logistics are an essential attractiveness factor for industrial project developers”

Guillaume Decorzent : Since 2017, the public policies pursued by the government have helped reverse the trend in factory closures after 30 years of deindustrialization. Over the past two years, there have been at least 200 net factory openings—that is, 200 more than the number that may have closed over the same period—across the country, and 90,000 jobs created. The Labor and PACTE Acts, cuts in corporate and production taxes, and the France Relance and France 2030 plans are enabling France to once again become a producing nation, an industrial nation. Our proactive policy, driven by Bruno Le Maire and Roland Lescure, is bearing fruit, and entire economic areas are being revitalized: the Arve Valley, the Dunkirk industrial-port complex, Fos-sur-Mer... to name just a few. With the “Green Industry” Act, we are going even further, not only to reindustrialize France but also to decarbonize our productive base. For example, decarbonizing the 50 industrial sites announced by the President of the Republic will reduce emissions from these sites by 45% by 2030; they alone account for 55% of industry emissions.

Guillaume Decorzent : Logistics are an essential link in the country’s green reindustrialization. The emergence of new industrial sites will require high-performing logistics infrastructure. In addition to assembly lines, a gigafactory producing electric batteries will need suitable warehousing capacity. Its establishment will generate new transport flows to supply the site with raw materials and move finished products throughout Europe and beyond. Another example: the development of wind turbine blade production requires carriers capable of transporting blades measuring 107 meters in length. These are all examples of industrial players that will help decarbonize our economy and will need an efficient, competitive logistics offering.

The relocation of industrial production also contributes to decarbonizing our economy by shortening long-distance international flows, thus reducing transport-related CO2 emissions. Here again, nothing would be possible without a thorough reorganization of logistics networks, shifting from a model of moving imported goods from major European seaports to one of distributing local production across Europe. The circular economy will also pose challenges in organizing the collection, processing and reuse of used goods. The flexibility supply chains demonstrated in reorganizing energy flows following the Ukrainian crisis reassures me that they will be able to meet this challenge. 

It should also be noted that the transport sector itself is a major player in the energy and environmental transition. CILOG, held on December 22, 2023, provided an opportunity to launch new measures supporting this sector’s transition. The electrification of heavy-duty vehicles, set for 2040, is an important lever for decarbonization. The government supports the sector through several schemes, including accelerated tax depreciation and the call for projects “electric heavy-duty vehicle ecosystem.” In 2023, 1,073 electric heavy-duty vehicles were funded, driving a clear acceleration and demonstrating the maturity of the industrial offering, with an increasingly broad range. Nearly 80% of the vehicles supported through the call for projects were produced in France, thus helping to foster an excellence sector in decarbonized transport.

Guillaume Decorzent : First and foremost, it is a matter of refining assessments of the logistics warehouse stock in the regions. This assessment may draw in particular on the work of the Statistical Data and Studies Service of the Ministry for Energy Transition and Territorial Cohesion, which is currently working to update the Warehouse Atlas. The next step is to identify future needs based on regional dynamics, particularly in connection with reindustrialization policies and the forecasting of transport flows, drawing on work carried out as part of the regionalization of the National Low-Carbon Strategy and the transport demand study conducted by the Directorate General for Infrastructure, Transport and Mobility.

These studies must serve on-the-ground stakeholders, who are best placed to support the development of logistics models. To this end, the State’s decentralized regional services and all local stakeholders play a major role; this is the purpose of the regional logistics conferences held in 2023. The Warehouse Atlas and the transport demand study can thus usefully inform strategic planning documents at the scale of the areas concerned, and more specifically regional planning, sustainable development and territorial equality plans (SRADDET), territorial coherence plans (SCoT) and local urban plans (PLU). Our goal is to ensure that the right warehouse is built in the right place, at the heart of centers of gravity to limit distances traveled, while also being better connected to rail and inland waterway networks in order to encourage the consolidation of flows. 

With this in mind, the instruction to prefects of October 21, 2021, concerning the organization of regional logistics conferences will be updated in 2024 to specify the monitoring actions that can be implemented. The regions most advanced on this issue will be encouraged and supported in structuring their approach in the form of a roadmap setting out the priority collective actions to be taken in line with each region’s specific characteristics.

Guillaume Decorzent : As I said above, we reversed the trend as early as 2017, and for now the figures are particularly positive. Today, and for several years now, we have been reopening more factories in France than we are closing: this is a concrete result of our industrial policy. Although the economic climate is challenging, given the inflationary episode we have experienced and the catch-up effects from the Covid crisis that we continue to face, our observations indicate that the momentum is still under way and that net industrial-site openings and industrial job creation should remain in positive territory in the coming years, including 2024. In this regard, it is important to recall industry’s impact on employment: it has a significant multiplier effect on local employment, leading not only to industrial jobs but also to jobs in local services and services to industry in the area, including logistics. In France, it is estimated that 100 industrial jobs will create between 83 (*1) and 154 (*2) new indirect jobs.

There are several ways to support industrialization. On the one hand, we can use taxation; this was the case with the abolition of the CVAE production tax (corporate value-added contribution): industry will be the leading beneficiary, accounting for more than 25% of the total gain, or nearly twice its share of GDP. In addition, under the Green Industry Act, the green industry tax credit (C3IV) is one of the most incentive-based measures for producing in France essential components or critical raw materials for green industry, whether for wind power, solar panels, batteries or heat pumps.

On the other hand, as mentioned earlier, we are doing substantial work to free up land and enable the establishment of new factories. Announced by the President of the Republic at the launch of the Green Industry Act, an inventory is nearing completion to provide industry with 50 new turnkey “France 2030” sites to host the most strategic reindustrialization projects; Roland Lescure will make further announcements on this shortly. In addition, the State and local authorities are making a major effort to speed up establishment timelines and simplify procedures; the Green Industry Act therefore provides for reducing the time needed to establish operations from 17 to 9 months! Many other measures have been launched as part of Green Industry and are being rolled out or are in the process of being rolled out. For example: enhanced support for the rehabilitation of brownfield sites for industrial projects through the Green Fund starting in 2024, the introduction of expedited procedures for planning permission and electricity grid connections for the most strategic industrial projects, etc.

Guillaume Decorzent : To attract and support industrial project sponsors, we need to be able to offer them, in addition to developed land, a comprehensive range of services to launch their operations. High-quality logistics is therefore an essential factor of attractiveness and must be included in the service package offered at the 50 turnkey sites I mentioned.

Our challenge is therefore to support industry stakeholders in developing logistics real estate that meets identified needs while minimizing its environmental impact, particularly in terms of land take. To do so, we must build on local momentum, enabling stakeholders (local authorities, economic players, and government departments) to engage in dialogue in order to remove obstacles to the establishment of new projects. This is the purpose of the reciprocal commitments charter between the French government and logistics real estate stakeholders on the environmental and economic performance of logistics real estate (known as the “Afilog” charter) of July 2021.

In particular, this charter provides for the establishment of a liaison group between logistics professionals and the various relevant government agencies. This group helps clarify certain regulatory issues that may require clarification in their operational application. Listening to the issues encountered in the field and providing concrete, practical responses is fully in line with the government's simplification policy.

(*1) Frocrain, P. & Giraud, P.‑N. (2018). The Evolution of Tradable and Non-Tradable Employment: Evidence from France. Economie et Statistique / Economics and Statistics, 503‑504, 87–107.

(*2) Clément Malgouyres, The Impact of Chinese Import Competition on the Local Structure of Employment and Wages: Evidence from France