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According to the finance minister, France will continue to subsidize power costs through 2025 despite rising costs brought on by Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the continued unavailability of several of its nuclear reactors.
As bills are still "very high" compared to late 2021, Bruno Le Maire told radio LCI, "I'm giving us two years to end" (electricity subsidies) by early 2025. Le Maire had earlier promised to reduce France's debt and deficits by cutting public spending.
The heart of France's energy system, its nuclear reactors, were shut down in large numbers last year due to corrosion found in emergency cooling systems, resulting in EDF, the state-owned energy company, producing the least quantity of electricity in 30 years.
Since Moscow attacked Ukraine last year, the flow of Russian gas has been slowed, which has caused energy costs to rise across Europe.
Due to government subsidies, France has had less pronounced increases in power costs, with 4% in 2022 and 15% this year, at a projected cost of 45 billion euros ($49 billion) in 2023.
As gas prices have decreased, Le Maire declared that there is "no longer a need to keep up" subsidies and promised to do so this year.
In order to reduce annual budget deficits and France's overall debt, which is among the biggest loads in the 27-member European Union, the finance minister had stated on Thursday that it was time to reduce public spending.
Both numbers had increased as a result of Paris' "whatever it takes" response to both the coronavirus epidemic and the spike in energy prices.
