Bad news for the French. What had been feared for several months is coming to fruition. Electricity and gas will increase in 2023, by 15%, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne explained on Wednesday. Accompanied by the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire and the Minister for Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the head of government presented her battle plan to deal with the energy crisis, during a press conference in Paris. codes well known to the French.
“Rise in bills”
Same place, same graphics projected on the screens, same seriousness in the words and same didactic tone as during the pandemic. No doubt, Elisabeth Borne, without looking for her glasses at the desk, takes up the codes of her predecessor Jean Castex.
“These increases will lead to an increase in bills of around 25 euros per month for households that heat with gas, instead of an increase of 200 euros per month without a tariff shield”, recalled the Prime Minister before the journalists. “Doing pedagogy is useful”, justifies an adviser from Matignon. “It’s not the Covid, but the concerns are just as strong”, supports another adviser.
General mobilization
And if the health crisis seems to have passed, certain formulas are still used, in particular by Bruno Le Maire: “We did whatever it took when French growth collapsed. Today, growth is resisting so there is no there is no reason to restore the no matter what,” justified the Minister of the Economy. From the health crisis to the energy crisis, the will of the executive is the same. Objective, to show in front of the camera that all members of the government are mobilized to protect the French.
And as for Covid-19, the government is preparing to launch a communication campaign to encourage the French to consume less energy. Its title: “Every gesture counts”. Exactly the same formula used when it came to fighting the epidemic two years ago.