Three amendments proposing a “moratorium” on the deployment of 5G in France – first spotted by the news sites Numerama and Next INpact – were tabled in the French National Assembly during the committee’s examination of the bill fight against climate change. EURACTIV France reports.
Frequencies dedicated to 5G networks should be “temporarily suspended” until “the results of the 5G health and climate assessment” are presented to Parliament, according to proposed amendments 587 and 746.
The Generation Ecology deputy Delphine Batho, as well as the Ecology Democracy Solidarity deputies Cédric Villani and Matthieu Orphelin, were among the deputies who signed the proposed amendments.
The group of deputies who tabled the amendments reiterated proposal PT12.1 of the Citizen’s Climate Convention – a panel representing French citizens on climate issues – and was inspired by the recommendations made by the High Climate Council of country in its “Controlling the carbon impact of 5G”. report
Amendment 4539 goes further and proposes to decree a “moratorium on the deployment of the 5G network on French territory” which can only be lifted if it is approved by the “French population, resulting from a national consultation carried out throughout France for at least a year ”.
The deputies who have already signed the proposal, including 17 deputies from the far left France Insoumise party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, would prefer to focus on the “13 million French people affected by e-illiteracy”, the lack of necessary knowledge to remedy the use of new technologies.
They also argued that “for each of the uses of 5G mentioned, other technologies already exist and are sufficient”, such as 4G or Wi-Fi.
It seems unlikely that these amendments will ultimately be voted on due to the lack of support from President Emmanuel Macron’s La République en Marche, who has a majority of 269 members in parliament. However, the special committee in charge of the bill should have prepared the text by March 19.
In parallel, the mayor of Paris must approve this week a new mobile telephony charter and the creation of a Paris Observatory, which should approve the deployment of 5G in the French capital.
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
