“We continue to believe with the President of the Republic that it is in the interest of all European countries to bring down energy prices on the market. When prices run high, States must intervene. prices are reaching peaks, the States must intervene”, explained Bruno le Maire, before an interview with his German counterparts Robert Habeck (Economy and climate protection) and Christian Lindner (Finance).
To bring down energy prices, the European Commission presented proposals on Tuesday aimed at reforming the flagship index of the gas market, avoiding extreme prices and defining a compulsory level of joint purchases, but without capping the price of gas used to produce electricity, like what has been implemented in Spain and Portugal.
France has been trying for weeks “to obtain an agreement on lower electricity prices at European level, in particular by extending the Iberian mechanism to the entire European continent. We will continue to fight in this direction, as we We will continue to fight for the disjunction of the price of gas and the price of electricity”, declared the French minister.
Bruno Le Maire also indicated that he wanted to “maintain the safety net that already exists for the smallest companies. 1.5 million VSEs are at regulated sales prices (TRV). We will maintain this price”.
For the other energy-intensive companies, “we will present solutions in the coming days, and we are working on them in particular with the CPME”, further indicated Bruno Le Maire.
