A very good deal?

Parti socialiste and Europe Ecologie – Les Verts (the French Greens) recently made a deal for the 2012 elections. This deal implies the reduction of the nuclear output, the partial implementation of proportional representation for the legislatives, the creation of new jobs, the implementation of a new carbon tax at the EU level and the withdrawal of the French troops in Afghanistan at the end of 2012. Another deal also plans about fifteen constituencies for the Greens for the next legislatives – about thirty if the left wins the presidential election.

On the left, Cécile Duflot – EELV General Secretary – and Martine Aubry the current PS leader

A lot of people strongly reacted to these agreements, provoking a huge cacophony between socialists and ecologists, as far as the nuclear and the legislatives are concerned mainly. Thus, some socialists reproached Martine Aubry – the PS leader – to accept the Cécile Duflot candidacy. Standing for in Paris, the current Europe Ecologie Les Verts General Secretary clearly shows her ambitions for the 2014 municipal elections, according to Bertrand Delanoë – the current socialist mayor of the capital city – who clearly backs Anne Hidalgo as his probable successor.

So, the French Greens seem to be the main winners of this deal, their eyes being bigger than their stomach. Nonetheless, as strange it may be, this political agreement is a good thing for the two parties and for the PS, firstly

As Romain Pignel explained very well in his blog, the PS – EELV deal deserves to exist and to be useful for the socialists and François Hollande. Indeed, it becomes more complicated for the French Greens to attack a party with which they made a deal and got important concessions, as far as the legislatives are concerned mainly. The EELV leaders would not like to attack François Hollande at the risk of losing the concessions they got, if the socialist candidate loses especially.   The PS – EELV deal is a good thing for both finally in spite of some bungling. Thanks to this deal, the Greens can still extend a pressure inside the political game and the Socialists take a weight off their own shoulders. The Eva Joly reaction is very instructive moreover, some people betting on her withdrawal of the presidential race in the following weeks or months. This hypothesis must be considered with an extreme precaution who this shows that the ecologists, from the moment they got what they wanted, will be less attempted to rebel. This is the reasoning and the gamble of the PS and François Hollande who should get something out of it.

The PS-EELV political agreement is finally the addition of convergent interests or the conclusion of a non-aggression pact, with some collateral damages in the two camps. And if the French socialist party, the Cécile Duflot candidacy in Paris is the counterpart to the neutralization of the Eva Joly presidential candidacy, let’s recognize Martine Aubry finally got off lightly. Very lightly.