“The hardest part is here. “In the midst of an energy crisis, “we will have to make courageous choices”, considers the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire in a context of soaring energy prices and the cessation of Russian gas exports.
This crisis “can have an absolutely major impact on our daily lives, on employment, on the functioning of our companies, on the French industrial tool”, underlined the tenant of Bercy. It is “the most important subject of the coming months”.
“We are faced with complicated choices, admits Bruno Le Maire. We will not be able to continue to warm ourselves and move around as if nothing had happened”, with the possibility of a Russian gas cut.
The 100% nationalization of EDF will make it possible to act more quickly, also estimated the minister. The planned rise from 84% to 100% in the capital of the electrician “changes a lot of things because there are many projects which can sometimes take a few weeks or a few months longer, because there are debates which are legitimate from the moment there is a share of shareholders who are not state shareholders,” the minister explained to journalists at the Economic Meetings of Aix-en-Provence. “There you will have total unity of command,” he added.
According to Bruno Le Maire, “it allows us to make faster decisions on the strategic subject of carbon-free electricity production in France”.
“Getting us into battle order now”
The government is preparing a series of measures for next winter to prioritize households and certain industries in the event of insufficient electricity production.
“We have to put ourselves in battle order now on the organization, the shedding, the sobriety, the reduction of consumption… it is now that we must take the decisions”, detailed the Minister of the Economy, not without adding that the subject fell to the Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
This year, EDF was forced to unexpectedly shut down 12 reactors, out of the 56 in the French fleet, for corrosion problems.
Bruno Le Maire finally clarified that he had not yet obtained the approval of the European Commission for the nationalization of EDF.
“I had long discussions with (Competition Commissioner) Margrethe Vestager on this subject, so we will resume our very long discussions,” the minister reported.