“We can’t imagine asking the French, starting with the modest French, to pay 45% more for their gas or a third more for their electricity. This is what Elisabeth Borne assured the press this Saturday, on the sidelines of the Economic Meetings of Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône). Thus, the tariff shield on energy prices could be replaced by more targeted aid for low-income French people next year, she suggested.
“We are not going to expose the most modest French people to reckless increases in the price of energy”, supports the Prime Minister. “If there were no shield” on the price of gas or a cap on electricity prices, “electricity would be a third more expensive, and gas 45 to 50%” more expensive, according to she. But given the cost of the tariff shield for the State, it would be necessary to move from “general mechanisms to more targeted mechanisms”, judged Elisabeth Borne. Work would be in progress.
The general fuel discount will soon only apply to certain people
On Thursday, the government had already announced that targeted aid for people who drive to work would take over in October from the general discount of 18 cents on the price of a liter of fuel, which will gradually decrease and then end. definitely in December.
Asked about the advisability of setting up a tax on possible “surplus profits” that energy companies would realize thanks to the sharp rise in energy prices, Elisabeth Borne was more evasive. “Obviously in principle, if there are people who derive superprofits from the crisis, we would like that to be able to benefit everyone and lighten the burdens that the crisis can generate. Afterwards, it’s not completely simple, ”she immediately nuanced.
“Many of our neighbors have put in place mechanisms to tax these excess profits”, but “we are not in the same situation” in France, she added. Because on the one hand, “EDF has production difficulties today on its nuclear fleet”, forcing France to massively import electricity from abroad. EDF, in fact, would therefore not make any “surplus profit”. On the other hand, the Minister affirms that if certain oil companies have distribution activities in France, they “do not generate superprofits. »