“One hundred euros for everyone”, we summarize in Matignon. The economists can assure that the rise in prices which strikes in this re-entry of the fuels and the raw materials is transitory, the executive does not want to take any risk with a few months of the presidential campaign.
The Prime Minister, Jean Castex, was therefore to announce, this Thursday, September 16, a significant boost for the 5.8 million households who receive the energy check. This device allows modest people to benefit from automatic heating assistance, and was extended at the time of the “yellow vests” crisis. From December, 5.8 million households will receive an additional 100 euros, which will be added to the 150 euros already paid to them on average with this allowance, “To cope with this cyclical rise in energy prices and to cope with winter”, indicates Matignon.
Eligible households will not have to take any action and will receive this exceptional assistance by letter in December, regardless of their heating method (electricity, fuel, gas). The cost of this measure, which the government says “Transient”, amounts to 580 million euros and will be fully funded from the state budget.
Unprecedented increase in regulated tariffs
Since the start of the school year, the executive has been closely monitoring the issue of purchasing power, especially that of fuel prices, at the origin of the “yellow vests” crisis, which had inflamed the country three years ago, caused by the increase in taxes on gasoline and the announcement of the implementation of a “carbon tax”. This time, there is no question of tax: it is the prices themselves which have climbed during the summer, in favor of tensions on the world markets linked to the restarting of the economy. A surge which also worries governments everywhere in Europe, while Brussels is pursuing in parallel an offensive strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions likely to weigh on prices. Spain and Greece have already announced support measures for individuals, and other European countries are considering it.
For households, the increase is real: in France, regulated gas prices have increased by 8.7% since the 1er September, after more than 5% in August and almost 10% in July. And the surge in electricity prices on the wholesale markets, following those of gas and CO emissions quotas2, could also lead to an unprecedented rise in regulated prices for the French at the start of next year. Prices at the pump (not covered by the energy check), for their part, stabilized, after having risen sharply at the start of the year.
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