The government is not ruling out continuing to support artisans, such as bakers, to cope with a rise in their electricity bill if current aid schemes prove insufficient, Economy Minister Bruno Le Mayor said on Tuesday.
“We will not disappoint any baker in France, just as we will not disappoint any SME, any VSE in the face of the increase in electricity prices,” Bruno Le Maire assured during questions to the government in the National Assembly.
Certain professions such as bakers and butchers have sounded the alarm at the explosion in energy prices, considering that they do not have sufficient support from public administrations despite the implementation by the executive of measures of support such as the help desk for the payment of electricity bills and then the “shock absorber” that will be launched on January 1st.
Shock absorber
The Union of Independents (SDI) has estimated that 100,000 companies will see their electricity bill increase in 2023 without being able to receive any help.
Next year, “we are going to implement an electricity cushion for all SMEs with fewer than 250 employees. They will have an average reduction of their invoice of 20%”, explains Bruno Le Maire.
“If we see that for a certain number of professions, and I am thinking in particular of bakers, all these cross-cutting measures are not enough, we are ready, with the Prime Minister, to look at additional measures,” he continued. “We will favor effective, fair, fast and specific measures.”
After stressing that the government was discussing “for several weeks” with the bakers, the minister indicated that his colleague Olivia Grégoire, in charge of SMEs, Commerce and Crafts, would receive them again “to find concrete solutions.”
Source: BFM TV
