“It’s not going to happen all at once. » The Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, confirmed Thursday, July 13 duringan interview on RTL that the government would put ” gradually “ an end, by the end of 2024, to the tariff shield on energy prices introduced to fight against inflation, removing the doubt on its possible extension in 2025. “As soon as we have to save money, we must in particular get out of the specific systems that we put in place during the inflation crisis”said the minister.
The Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, announced in April that the tariff shield limiting electricity prices for individuals would be maintained until the beginning of 2025. But, on Tuesday, three economists from the Economic Analysis Council (CAE) had recommended in a note to quickly end the tariff shield on electricity prices for the wealthiest households in order to reduce its cost while encouraging energy sobriety, “given its weight for public finances”.
End of “exceptional checks”
Excluding the wealthiest 20% of households from the shield could thus allow “to make budgetary savings of 5 billion to 6 billion euros”, had estimated Xavier Ragot, one of the authors of the report. On the other hand, “the most modest would continue to benefit from support”, had recommended the CAE, evoking the distribution of an energy check to the most modest households. During his interview on RTL, Mr. Attal said his desire to “put an end to this policy of exceptional checks that we have been able to put in place on such a subject for such a category of French people”.
According to estimates by the Energy Regulatory Commission, electricity prices would have jumped 35% in 2022 and 100% in 2023 had it not been for the price shield protective device. The government estimated at the end of 2022 at 110 billion euros between 2021 and 2023 the cost of the energy shield for households, communities and businesses.