Specific TRV for VSEs soon
This was not a foregone conclusion. After months of negotiations, common ground was found with the aim of establishing a majority of Socialist deputies and the government Regulated Electricity Tariff (TRVE) for small businesses with less than 10 employees (VSE). The bill will be introduced in the National Assembly on February 29, 2024.
Most expressed reluctance about the section of the text dealing with employee shareholding. The government even considered withdrawing it by going to the Constitutional Council, thus forcing Socialist deputies to revise their text. It is unlikely that the new proposal will not be supported by other parliamentary groups, so the VSEs can prepare to break out the champagne.
The number of VSE bankruptcies has more than doubled in 2023
The energy crisis has had a devastating impact on artisans and small businesses. The number of VSE insolvencies has more than doubled in the last two years, to 2,520 in 2023, from 1,527 in 2019. Over 76% of VSEs have been hit hard by rising energy prices, with the hotel and catering sector, food retailing and artisans (bakers, butchers, etc.) at the forefront. It was therefore all the more urgent to act to support them.
As Jean-Guillaume Dare, General Delegate of the Union of Independents and Small Businesses (SDI) points out, VSEs have suffered an average increase of about 44% in their energy costs over the past two years. However, not all VSEs, because of their contracts, are in the same boat; Some of them saw their bills increase by as much as +80% in two years, despite the measures put in place by the government. The situation was more complicated for VSEs, as it was often difficult for them to increase their costs to the selling price of their products. Hence this is great news for VSEs who will (finally) be able to see a reduction in their electricity bills in the coming months.
