Roland Lescure, m.Minister Delegate to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, in charge of Industry, Monday, September 5, 2022. Tax on superprofits, sobriety measures for companies, partial unemployment… He answers to questions from Marc Fauvelle and Salhia Brakhlia.
Tax on superprofits: “We are not afraid of the big bosses”
Asked about the government’s refusal, at this stage, to introduce a tax on super-profits, Roland Lescure assures us, “We are not afraid of big bosses”. “We believe in corporate responsibility”, says the Minister Delegate for Industry. Also, he “expects very large companies to make an effort, this is already the case today”. “What I would like, on the other hand, is that we typically stop a little systematically throwing stones at large companies as if they were the enemy”he says.
Roland Lescure takes the example of Total. “I prefer Total to electrify the terminals in all its service stations, I prefer Total to make discounts on prices at the pump, I prefer Total to make the Macron bonus for all its employees rather than taxing them”, she enumerates. In contrast, “if Total does not do it”the government will act, as the Prime Minister has already indicated.
Rationing of energy deliveries this winter: “This risk is low”
Roland Lescure wants to reassure companies whose concern is mounting in the face of the risk of rationing of gas and electricity deliveries agitated by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. “We are not there. The sobriety plan aims precisely to avoid rationing. The fact that we are reducing a little the production and deliveries of energy for the main consumers today, this risk is low “he says.
“If each of us, on a daily basis, at home or in the office, does our part of the work, this risk will be extremely low. So really, I call for the responsibility of all”, launches Roland Lescure. What is true for electricity is perhaps a little less so for gas, which depends on the goodwill of Russia. The risk is “necessarily a little higher on gas since the unknown is: Will Putin stop delivering gas to Europe?”he agrees.
Energy crisis: the government wants to “avoid” the return of partial unemployment
Does the government intend to give reason to the CFDT, which asks it to reactivate the partial unemployment schemes? “The objective is on the contrary to avoid that”answers, Roland Lescure. “We will look at specific cases”as “the glassmakers”who “are in an extremely special situation” and “are facing a very sharp rise in the price of energy”, indicates the minister, who cited Arc and Duralex.
“We are looking at exactly how we can help these companies get through the winter in an alternative way” partially unemployed. “Partial unemployment, for us, it must be the last possibility, we will try to avoid it, and I can tell you that we are doing everything for”he hammers.
Nuclear: “The objective is to reopen the 32 closed reactors by February”
“EDF’s objective and the government’s wish is to reopen the thirty-two closed reactors by February”, says Roland Lescure. Currently, 32 reactors are shut down in France out of the 56 in the country, some of which for stress corrosion and others for routine maintenance. “The objective is also to have 27 reactors open by the end of December”he adds, in comparison with the 24 reactors that are operational today.
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Find the entire “8:30 franceinfo” of Monday, September 5, 2022: