PublishedAugust 22, 2022, 9:26 PM
SuisseEnergy shortage: Guy Parmelin calls for calm
After the many criticisms of his inaction once morest the risks of gas and electricity shortages, the Minister of the Economy felt that it was not necessary to dramatize.
“I think we should avoid this kind of dramatization that we are currently witnessing.” These remarks were made by Guy Parmelin, this Monday on the airwaves of “La Matinale” of the RTS. The Minister of the Economy is indeed under pressure. The Greens, the PS and EconomieSuisse have indeed criticized this weekend the inaction of his department in this file and called for drastic measures. The USAM also informed him of its bad mood and the police accuse him of not having been consulted with regard to security.
Rushing is useless
But the minister wanted to be reassuring. According to him, the supply of gas, oil and electricity is assured. If, in the case of gas, Switzerland has no possibility of storage, the situation is different with regard to fuel oil, and the reserve of the Confederation is four and a half months, he indicated. As for a savings plan, Guy Parmelin indicated that the Federal Council would very quickly make decisions: “Everything is being finalized and priorities will be given.”
But there’s no point in rushing, he says. “It is quite clear that each savings measure that we can implement as soon as possible makes it possible to avoid or delay a possible quota as much as possible. But certain measures, if you take them now, will have no significant effect next February-March-April, when the situation is likely to be tense,” said Guy Parmelin.
People’s freedom at stake
As for the criticisms of his department’s inaction, he brushes them aside. “I had the same complaints with the Covid”, he recalls. And to indicate that the government has worked all summer. “The Federal Council will continuously inform over the next few weeks as it determines the guidelines in which it intends to go. He will then present the various detailed prescriptions so that everyone knows what to do.
The Vaudois finally recalled that the decisions to be taken must be carefully considered. “If, hypothetically, you integrate obligations into the savings measures with controls in the people sector, this is something that must be thought regarding very carefully. Because it is regarding the freedom of people, ”explained Guy Parmelin.
(cht)