The law was introduced by the Samajwadi Party (PS), but the government wants to gain political advantage from it. On Thursday 29 February, the National Assembly adopted a third reading bill from Socialist deputies Philippe Brun (Eure) and Communist Sébastien Jumel (Seine-Maritime), aimed at “Protect EDF Group From Split”.
The text makes it mandatory for parliament to vote on any future opening of EDF’s capital to private investors – an attempt to secure its nationalization undertaken in 2023 by the Born government following the group’s financial difficulties.
But it is another part of the bill that has whetted the political appetite. The text of MM. Brun and Jumel extended the regulated tariff on electricity sales to very small businesses (VSE) and local authorities of less than 10,000 inhabitants with an energy consumption of less than or equal to 250/kilovoltampere (kVA), which is currently 36/kVA. According to Bersi, more than 8,500 municipalities and one million small businesses will be affected. The move could particularly benefit bakers and farmers, who have been excluded from the system due to their excessive electricity consumption.
unanimous vote
A few months after a wave of bankruptcies ravaged the bakery and pastry sector and in the midst of an agrarian crisis, the proposal comes at an opportune time for the government and the opposition to project themselves as the sector’s saviors. All voted unanimously for the law. Soon after its adoption, the Minister of Industry, Roland Lescure, went on BFM-TV to claim victory. “Bruno Le Maire announced it, the National Assembly did it”, he announced.
Four months before the vote, the economy minister had in fact announced that he was going to extend regulated electricity prices, giving the impression of short-circuiting the socialist bill. “I committed to it on November 14, 2023! Mr. Le Maire said on X after the vote. This is great news for our bakers, our artisans, our farmers, our communities! »
However, during the PS structure of February 9, 2023, there were not many people in Renaissance to support the bill during its first passage in the National Assembly. Instead of succumbing to an unfavorable vote, leave Hemicycle in the middle of the vote, under the leadership of their leader, Aurore Berg. Never in the history of VE Republic, the bill proposed by the opposition received a majority of votes against the opinion of the government. This would stand that day with 205 votes in favor and only one against.
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