Gas, electricity, European solidarity… Emmanuel Macron convenes an Energy Defense Council

Definitely, Emmanuel Macron appreciates Defense Councils: ecological, health and now energy. At 10 a.m., “the competent ministerswill gather around him at the Élysée. Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, Minister of Public Accounts Gabriel Attal and Ministers responsible for Energy Transition Christophe Béchu and Agnès Pannier-Runacher, as well as experts are expected.

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According to the Élysée, this Defense Council has “aim to take stock of the situation of our gas and electricity supply to prepare for all scenarios this fall and winter“. It will also look atEuropean energy solidarity”, while the wholesale electricity prices for 2023 in Germany and France broke new records on Friday at respectively 850 euros and more than 1000 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). Several scenarios should be discussed with the Head of State. According Point France fears certain tensions with Germany, which would demand French gas in exchange for its electricity.

An unstable geopolitical context

Indeed, gas flows from Russia have dried up. The Europeans are preparing for a possible total shutdown, in retaliation for the sanctions imposed on Moscow since the invasion of Ukraine on February 24. The giant Gazprom thus announced this week the end of its deliveries to Engie. The situation is also tense on the electricity side, due to the unavailability of part of the nuclear fleet, in particular for corrosion problems. Elisabeth Borne thus put pressure on EDF in him asking thursday to stick to its reactor maintenance schedule to avoid France having to restart a coal-fired power plant.

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“We’ve been preparing for months to avoid cuts. If we lower our gas consumption by 10% there will be no restrictions. It’s attainable“added the Prime Minister on France Inter. “If these savings are not made, if the winter is cold, there may be restrictions but they will not concern households“, she added, specifying that she would present “late September-early October» the scenarios envisaged.

For her part, Emmanuelle Wargon, President of the Energy Regulation Commission, declared herself Thursday “confident” on the “possibility of wintering without Russian gas», which only represents 9% of the supply in France. She clarified on LCI that “100% filling of our gas stocks“will be effective”before November 1, the date set by the government“. Nearby Figaro energy policy expert Fabien Bouglé, warned:If Emmanuel Macron begins with this Defense Council a real French-style “energy disruption” instead of getting stuck in the model of our German neighbors which is a resounding failure, then yes, this summit meeting will make sense. But it is to be feared that it will succeed ultimately only to measuring sticks in a logic of political communication“.

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Finally on the form, oppositions worry of a “parliament bypasswith the use of the Defense Council. Marine Le Pen felt that “the President of the Republic bypasses Parliament to manage the crisis with an Energy Defense Council» in a letter addressed to Elisabeth Borne. “Don’t see it as a secret enclosure, it’s really a collegial, collective work“replied government spokesman Olivier Véran.