According to statements made by France’s Minister of Finance on Saturday, the country plans to spend 8.4 billion euros ($8.67 billion) to assist businesses in paying their energy bills. This move is intended to reduce the negative impact of rising electricity and gas prices and to assist businesses in competing with those in Germany. France has announced that it will reduce a special tax on electricity to the lowest level permitted by EU laws, and it will also permit businesses to make use of a unique mechanism in order to get affordable power supplied from nuclear sources. The energy price limitations that are already in effect for homes will also be beneficial to smaller enterprises.
Bruno Le Maire, the French Minister of Finance, stated on France Inter radio that French businesses will have the same level of protection as German businesses. He said, “We will also make sure that EU competition regulations apply to all companies, whether they be Italian, Spanish, French, or German.” “We will also make sure that EU competition laws apply to all companies.” At the beginning of this year, Germany pledged 200 billion euros to safeguard companies and households from rising energy prices. This move drew criticism from other EU members, which feared that it would alter the level playing field inside the EU. According to a statement released by the nation’s Ministry of Finance, the cost of the 8.4-billion-euro package that France presented on Saturday accounts for both 2022 and 2023 combined. In order to assist private homes, France has already allocated 45 billion euros.