The government does not rule out energy saving measures in the event of problems, “even minimal”, with fuel supply, warned government spokesperson Maud Bregeon, adding that it will first be up to the State to “set an example”.
The government will be ready to take energy saving measures in the event of fuel supply difficulties, government spokesperson Maud Bregeon said on Wednesday, without specifying these measures.
“If these supply problems, even minimal, were to present themselves to us, then we must be ready for a certain number of measures which make it possible to save the energy consumed and specifically the fuel”, she declared during the report of a ministerial meeting.
Maud Bregeon stressed that the State must “set an example” and that each minister must “think about sectoral measures which would be relevant without being unnecessarily restrictive”.
The tax surplus “cannot be counted in billions”
The government spokesperson also responded to those who accuse the state of being a “crisis profiteer” by garnering additional revenue thanks to the rise in fuel prices. However, “there is no prize pool,” she said.
“The increase in revenue from VAT induced by the increase in the price at the pump is offset negatively, therefore downwards, by the drop in consumption, by the drop in growth and by the increase in interest rates”, estimated Maud Bregeon during the report, while refusing to “give precise figures”. The president of the Les Républicains deputies, Laurent Wauquiez, had assured a little earlier that he estimated this surplus “between two and three billion” euros since the start of the crisis, hoping that it would be “given back to motorists in the form of lower taxes”.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu still suggested this Wednesday to allocate this surplus revenue to finance the electrification of the economy in order to depend less on imported hydrocarbons.
A meeting with social partners on April 21
Maud Bregeon finally announced that the government would hold a meeting on April 21 to prepare the 2027 budget and present the first repercussions of the energy crisis on growth and public finances.
“The political forces represented in Parliament, the social partners, the representatives of professional organizations and the representatives of local elected officials” will be invited to this meeting, added the spokesperson.
This will involve establishing “an exhaustive assessment of the first improvements” and “the different scenarios and their impacts on the economic situation and on the situation of public finances”, she specified during the report of a ministerial meeting. She then promised “regular open-hearted discussions” throughout the year, until the presentation of the draft budgets in the fall.
