Hollande Fires Energy Minister Batho Amid Nuclear-Power Debate
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President Francois Hollande’s ouster of Environment Minister Delphine Batho after she criticized the government’s budget plans for next year comes at a critical time for the country’s energy policy.
Batho, 40, was summoned to Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault’s office yesterday after calling Hollande’s 2014 spending plans “bad” in a morning radio interview because they cut her department’s available funds about 7 percent. She leaves in the midst of debate about France’s future energy mix, now heavily dependent on nuclear.