The National Assembly has begun examining the bill on the simplification of economic life. Through its Article 15, this “simplification” bill (or PLS) aims to speed up the construction of huge data centers in France, by allowing the government to impose them on the territories concerned and by increasing exemptions to municipal planning regulations, environmental laws, and to the principle of public participation. Against this new denial of democracy imposed to serve the interest of the tech industry, La Quadrature du Net and the collective “Le Nuage était sous nos pieds”, together with the other members of the“Hiatus” coalition, are calling for the deletion of Article 15 and a two-year moratorium on the construction of large data centers, so as to provide the time to establish the conditions for the democratic control of these digital infrastructures.
In early February, at the Paris summit on AI, Emmanuel Macron once again donned his suit as the great leader of the Startup Nation. The result was announcements of funding from all sides: while the French Parliament had just adopted the most austerity-driven budget of the 21st century, billions were pouring in, particularly to finance a boom in “data centers” in France. Data centers are industrial production plants, huge warehouses where thousands of servers owned or used by tech multinationals are piled up. In the age of AI, we are witnessing a real boom in the construction of these data computing and storage infrastructures. This boom is amplifying the misdeeds of computing, not only from an ecological point of view, but also in terms of surveillance, exploitation of labor, and the destruction of public services, as denounced by the Hiatus coalition in its founding manifesto.
Because France has nuclear energy that can lower the “carbon footprints” of tech multinationals, and because it is ideally placed on the international map of submarine cables, Macron the salesman presents it as a promised land for investors. To attract them, the French president has made a promise: simplifying and deregulating to avoid protests and ensure the swift construction of these resource-intensive infrastructures. The law on the simplification of the economy, already passed by the French Senate and currently being examined by the National Assembly, aims to translate this promise into action.
What the simplification bill (PLS) says
In its article 15, the “simplification” bill – in fact a deregulation bill – authorizes the government to grant construction projects for very large data centers a label derived from the 2023 law on “green industry”: the label “project of major national interest” (PINM). According to the government, this label is intended to be reserved for data centers with a surface area of at least 40 hectares, or more than 50 football fields!
With this status of “project of major national interest”, tech industrialists would see the government work with them to impose data centers on municipalities: the government would then take control of the powers of local authorities relating to town planning and regional development, by taking over the rewriting of local urban plans so as to adapt them to these data center projects. The public consultation procedures will be further streamlined, and the government will also be able to decide that these infrastructures can infringe on environmental regulations, particularly those relating to protected species or the non-artificialization of soil. Finally, in its article 15 bis, the simplification bill enshrines into law the 50% reduction enjoyed by data centers that consume more than 1 gigawatt in a year – a provision that is currently set out in a joint decree of the Minister for Energy and the Minister for Industry.
Thus, by encouraging the explosion of ever more gigantic and resource-hungry data centers, the “simplification” law accelerates the ecocidal impact of the tech industry, all to enable France and Europe to remain in an illusory “AI race”.
Why this deregulation of data centers is unacceptable
This attempt to “accelerate” is all the more unwelcome as the proliferation of data centers in France is already the subject of citizen protests across the country due to the conflicts of use they generate.
As documented by the collective “Le Nuage était sous nos pieds”, in which La Quadrature participates, their establishment in the port area of Marseille has, for example, led to the monopolization of waterfront land. It has led to the postponement of the electrification of the quays where cruise ships dock, as evidenced by documents from RTE. The latter thus continue to spew their toxic fumes into the Saint-Antoine district, causing various illnesses among the inhabitants. Finally, to cool the servers that are running at full capacity, data centers also require huge amounts of water, monopolizing a resource that is essential for ecosystems and the maintenance of agriculture. Added to this is the regular release of fluorinated gases with a high greenhouse effect, and an almost constant noise pollution.
In view of these problems, the current legal and democratic vacum surrounding data centers is particularly shocking. Local elected representatives and citizens’ groups agree on the need to rethink the regulatory framework around data centers. As for the National Commission for Public Debate (CNDP), it has asked to be consulted during the construction of these warehouses, but has come up against the will of the government to exclude the body from a growing number of industrial projects, through a recent draft decree.
The situation is therefore highly problematic at the moment. But with the “simplification” law, the government is proposing to deregulate even further, aggravating the denial of democracy. The aim is to roll out the red carpet for tech speculators, to enable them to turn France into a kind of “digital colony” stamped “low carbon”.
For a moratorium on the construction of new data centers
We refuse to allow our towns, villages and neighborhoods to be taken over by the tech giants in this way. We refuse to see our territories and natural resources sold to the highest bidders, undermining the few mechanisms of regulation and collective control that exist today. We do not want to “accelerate” the ecocidal headlong rush of tech as Emmanuel Macron invites us to do. We want to put a stop to it!
That is why we call on members of Parliament to reject Article 15 of the “simplification” bill and to support a two-year moratorium on the construction of large data centers in France, until a public debate can be held on how to regulate them. The two-year moratorium would apply to data centers larger than 2,000 m2 or with an installed power of 2 megawatts. According to the typology established by Cécile Diguet and Fanny Lopez in their research report for ADEME, a moratorium on facilities larger than 2,000m2 preserves the possibility of medium-sized data centers and does not hinder any projects that the State or local authorities may wish to undertake for public use.
The public debate to which we are calling could take the form of a citizens’ convention. It should address both the democratic control of digital infrastructures such as data centers and the artificial intelligence systems now deployed in all sectors of society. It should address the question of the uses of digital services, trying to break the dependence on the toxic models of the major multinationals in the sector. Against the industrial deregulation granted to tech, against the concentration of power and the amplification of social injustice that artificial intelligence reinforces, it is urgent to put digital technology back in its place and to think of a model for the development of its infrastructures that is compatible with ecological limits as well as human and social rights.
Next steps
The members of the special committee responsible for examining the text have already tabled amendments to it on Thursday 20 March. Several of them aim to delete Article 15. An amendment to call for a moratorium has also been tabled by Green MPs Hendrik Davi and Lisa Belluco. These amendments will be examined by the special committee from Monday 24 to Thursday 27 March. The examination in public session will then take place from April 8 to 11, 2024.
We will soon be launching a campaign page to make it easier for everyone to participate! In the meantime, spread the word and get ready for the battle against this umpteenth piece of shitty legislation! <3