Bruno Le Maire, Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, was the guest of “8:30 a.m. franceinfo”, Tuesday October 11, 2022. Fuels, tariff shield, budget 2023, pensions… He answers questions from Marc Fauvelle and Salhia Brakhlia.
Fuels: a call to unblock depots and refineries “without delay”
“There is only one solution: the immediate unblocking of fuel depots and refineries”, insists the Minister of the Economy. He believes that the CGT must “to input” the outstretched hand of Total, which offers to advance the date of wage negotiations by one month if the union suspends its strike action. “If the CGT categorically refuses to engage in this discussion, we will have no other means than to requisition the means necessary to release the deposits and operate the refineries”he warns. “This situation has already lasted too long, it is necessary that in the hours to come, an agreement can be found”.
DIRECT. Fuel shortage: the strike is renewed Tuesday, October 11 at TotalEnergies and Esso-ExxonMobil
On the other hand, while the Minister of Transport Clément Beaune indicated that the government was going to ask TotalEnergies to extend the rebates on fuel, Bruno Le Maire refuses to talk about it, “I strongly recommend that we first deal with the problem of blocked fuel deposits before adding another subject to the table”.
The temporary solidarity contribution targeting refiners will bring in “€200 million”
The government has tabled two amendments to the finance bill to transcribe into French law the application at European level of the mechanism to finance the tariff shield in France. The First Amendment which aims to cap the rents of energy companies “represents 26 billion euros”that is “more than half of our shield, it’s considerable”underlines the Minister, and the second amendment creates a temporary solidarity contribution from producers and refiners of oil, gas and coal and will bring “200 million euros”.
“These are the rents we want to tackle”explains Bruno Le Maire, “I don’t want there to be energy companies, whether they are called EDF, Total or Engie, who can take advantage of the situation, sell electricity at gold prices without at some point the State does not tell them there you take too much, we take back this rent which is excessive and we redistribute it to our compatriots and to companies”.
Tariff shield: the criteria “will move”
“The criteria for the tariff shield will change, the criteria for aid for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will change. They are too complicated and above all they are not the right references”, announces the minister. They will be in place from November 1. “If your energy bill represents more than 3% of your turnover, not in 2021 but at the end of 2022, when energy prices have exploded, you will have access to this aid”, explains Bruno Le Maire. This aid will be doubled and can go “up to four million euros”. Finally, “it will be enough if your profits are down at the end of 2022 for you to be eligible for this aid”.
Reopening of nuclear power plants: the timetable “must be respected”
The schedule for reopening by next February of the 32 nuclear reactors currently shut down “must be respected, it is essential so that we can spend a winter without major difficulties for our compatriots first of all but also for our companies”comments Bruno Le Maire, whose objective is “to avoid load shedding”. EDF predicts that the electricity production of its nuclear fleet will amount to more than 50 gigawatts.
Budget: “I want a dialogue in good faith”
Bruno Le Maire wants “a dialogue of good faith” on the 2023 draft budget, the examination of which began on Monday in the National Assembly and for which more than 3,500 amendments have been tabled. “If everyone is in good faith, if everyone really wants to move towards a better text, I will spend the time it takes”he agrees. “The only limit that we set is: no additional public expenditure. We have to, to the nearest euro, find ourselves in our budget, but we can perfectly say ‘we prefer to put more resources on this subject and save money on it’. We are ready to listen to the opposition, we simply cannot dialogue alone”explains the minister.
Pension reform: the employment of seniors is “an absolute priority”
The employment of seniors is “an absolute priority for reform” pensions, because “to have an employment rate of over 55s which is 54% or 56% in France is a real scandal“, judges Bruno Le Maire. He adds that he “there will be a discussion” on the legal retirement age at the Assembly.
Find the entire “8:30 franceinfo” of Tuesday, October 11, 2022: