“Let’s prepare for the total cut of Russian gas, it is today the most probable option. It supposes that we accelerate our energy independence”, pleaded the number 2 of the French government.
“We are fiercely independent, we don’t like to depend on others. The first independence must be energetic,” he continued. “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 make the decisions”, detailed the Minister of the Economy.
He thus mentioned the 100% renationalization of the French energy company EDF, announced this week by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne.
According to Bruno Le Maire, this “total unity of command” will allow “to take faster decisions on the strategic subject of the production of carbon-free electricity in France”.
The energy crisis is for the Minister “the most important subject of the coming months”, and we must prepare for a total cut in the gas supply.
“We are facing an energy crisis which can have an absolutely major impact on our daily lives, on employment, on the functioning of our companies, on the French industrial tool”, underlined Bruno Le Maire.
The Minister specified 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.