The government extends its support for companies that consume large amounts of gas and electricity
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The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire also announced that the criteria for accessing the support fund would be “simplified” and “lightened“.
Initially supposed to stop at the end of August, the support fund for companies that consume a lot of gas and electricity for their activity will be extended until the end of December, said Tuesday the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire.
The criteria for accessing this envelope of three billion euros, intended to help companies struggling to meet their energy bills in a context of high inflation, will also be “simplified” and “lightened“, he added.
Simplification of eligibility conditions
The eligibility conditions are:prohibitive for business, I heard the message“, declared the minister on the occasion of the Meeting of the entrepreneurs of France (REF) organized by the Medef. Therefore, “we will simplify them in the coming weeks, and I am ready to look at all the criteria“, assured the number two of the government.
Since the launch of this support fund in July, only companies whose gas and electricity purchases reached at least 3% of their turnover in 2021 were eligible.I am ready to change this threshold“, said Bruno Le Maire, leaving it to the Minister of Industry Roland Lescure to lead a consultation with companies to review the criteria for access to aid. The profitability criteria of companies and the reference period over which this profitability is calculated may also be modified, announced Bruno Le Maire.
The extension of the device comes as the gas supply suffers due to the war between Ukraine and Russia, a major gas exporter which has reduced the flows sold to European countries to respond to the salvoes of Western economic sanctions. This threat of shortage is causing gas prices to soar, while those of electricity have recently crossed 1000 euros per megawatt hour in France.
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The Presidency of the Republic announced on Tuesday that a Defense Council would be organized on Friday around Emmanuel Macron, to discuss the supply of gas and electricity to France. On Monday, the European Commission said it was ready for a “emergency responseaimed at stemming soaring energy prices. The European executive is also working on a “structural reformof the electricity market, the price of which is dependent on that of gas, specified its president Ursula von der Leyen.
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