Rising energy costs aren’t just affecting households. About 300 French companies are likely to be in trouble by the end of the year, Industry Minister Roland Lescure said Tuesday. “Today we are dealing with a few dozen companies, just over 300, which warn us by saying ‘here, I can’t anymore, we will have to do something'”, said the minister to the South antenna. The radio, questioned about a “risk of stall “for some companies this winter.
“These are the companies that Bercy follows, which consume a lot of electricity or who have not been able to renegotiate their electricity contracts,” the ministry said, without being able to specify the number of jobs represented by these closely followed companies. For businesses in difficulty, the minister recalled the existence of a business support fund that allows them to “limit the damage a little”.
“The first meeting is European”
“We have a support fund, we are reducing the criteria, extending it to 2023, to support the companies that need it most,” said the minister. He cited the famous Duralex glassworks, which decided, in the face of the explosion in energy costs, to put its furnace on standby for at least four months starting in November and to put all its employees into partial unemployment.
His energy bill was “two million euros last year and 13 million euros this year,” the minister said. “The first fight is European”, however, underlined Roland Lescure, regarding the European gas and electricity market, whose prices “make no sense” and that the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has promised to reform in depth, on September 14th.
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