French President Emmanuel Macron holds a press conference on the energy crisis in France and Europe, at the Elysee Palace, September 5, 2022. LUDOVIC MARIN / AP As a winter without Russian gas looms, Emmanuel Macron urged citizens, Monday, September 5, to “be at the rendezvous of sobriety” in order to avoid gas and electricity rationing in the months to come. “We must not play on fear, we are not in this situation” of rationing, he however reassured during a press conference devoted to the energy crisis after an interview by videoconference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Read also: Energy crisis: relive the press conference and Emmanuel Macron’s announcements “Everyone has their role to play” for energy sobriety “Everyone has their role to play”, said the president, calling for energy sobriety and believing that “the best energy [était] the one we don’t consume[ait] not “. According to him, “we have our destiny in hand because, since February, we have done a lot of things and because if we manage to be at the rendezvous of solidarity and sobriety”, “the solution is in our hand,” he added. “We all have to move! “, he continued, calling for “changing behaviors” such as that of “putting the air conditioning a little less strong when it is hot” and, this winter, “the heating a little less strong than usual” , evoking a temperature around 19°C in the rooms. Read the decryption: Article reserved for our subscribers Against the energy crisis, the executive is trying to prepare people’s minds for “the end of abundance” “If we collectively know how to behave more soberly and save energy energy everywhere, then there will be no rationing and there will be no cuts”, insisted the Head of State, recalling the objective of achieving “10% energy savings” . Towards “greater targeting of financial support” for households To do this, Emmanuel Macron announced the holding of regular updates. The monitoring already initiated, in particular thanks to My Ecowatt, “already gives a lot of information” on the energy situation. “We are going to try to improve all these instruments so that everyone can appropriate them at the individual level”, specified the Head of State. Regarding financial aid to households, such as the tariff shield, Emmanuel Macron warned, without giving a timetable, that they could not be kept “for months and months”. The government is therefore moving towards “greater targeting of support” for the “middle classes and the most modest families who could not resist a rise in prices”. The Minister Delegate for Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, announced on Saturday that the government would “maintain a shield system in 2023”. According to an INSEE study, these “tariff shield” measures have halved the effect of soaring energy prices on inflation. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers The tariff shield has halved the impact of soaring energy prices in France Paris agrees to deliver gas to Germany Emmanuel Macron spoke by videoconference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on the energy crisis in Europe in the face of the threat of a winter without Russian gas, at the Elysee Palace, September 5, 2022. LUDOVIC MARIN / AP While the Russian energy giant Gazprom has just announced the extension of the total shutdown of the Nord Stream gas pipeline, between Russia and Germany, Berlin and Europe are preparing for a winter without Russian gas – Gazprom has already stopped its gas deliveries to the operator French Engie. It was in the face of this threat that Emmanuel Macron spoke with the German Chancellor on Monday. During his press conference, the French head of state announced that Paris was committed to delivering more gas to Germany, which could in return supply him with electricity if the energy crisis required it this winter. . At the European level, Mr. Macron also declared himself “in favor of common gas purchasing practices” to buy “cheaper”, as well as capping the price of Russian gas delivered by pipeline. A “European contribution mechanism” rather than a national tax on superprofits The French president also said he was in favor of the European Union (EU) imposing a contribution on energy operators who would make “undue profits” with soaring wholesale electricity prices on the continent, in unison with Germany. The European Commission, for its part, is preparing its own plan to contain the rise in electricity prices. Rather than a national tax on superprofits, France therefore supports a non-fiscal and harmonized mechanism at European level, which would make it possible to recover part of the profits made by producers of renewable or nuclear electricity who today produce electricity at low cost but resold at record prices. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Energy: Brussels puts forward the first avenues European electricity prices, whatever their mode of production, are in fact correlated to the price of gas which has reached historic highs since the war in Ukraine. “This contribution could then be paid back to the States to finance their targeted national measures”, in favor of households and businesses, of the tariff shield type, he explained. “No evidence of need” for a third gas pipeline between France and Spain Asked about the Midcat project, supported by Madrid and Berlin, for a new gas pipeline between France and Spain, the head of the State has declared that it does not see “evidence” of the “need” for this third device. In Europe, “we need more electrical interconnection” but “I am not convinced that we need more gas interconnection, the consequences of which, in particular on the environment, and in particular on ecosystem, are more important”, he explained in particular. Mr Macron recalled that, during the stress period in February, the two existing gas pipelines between Spain and France are used at 53% of their capacity, with Paris exporting to Spain. In the midst of a “gas crisis, we are not saturating existing connections (…). I don’t understand the short-term problem we’re trying to solve,” he said. According to him, “there is no evidence of need, there is no evidence today, no evidence tomorrow, there are real difficulties”. And to insist: “Does investing today to have a third gas pipeline between France and Spain answer our question? I do not believe. Criticism of nuclear power “absolutely unacceptable[s] Finally, on the state of the French nuclear fleet, the French president strongly defended himself, judging “absolutely unacceptable that the people who were responsible for maintenance work on the installed fleet can explain that we did not take our responsibilities”. The Head of State was referring, without naming him, to the current CEO of EDF Jean-Bernard Lévy, who criticized at the end of August, a few weeks before leaving office, the lack of long-term strategic vision of the nuclear state. Emmanuel Macron recalled having postponed the deadline for a 50% reduction in nuclear power by ten years, claiming to have “restored visibility,[é] confidence in the sector [et] give back[é] objectives “. Read also: Article reserved for our EDF subscribers who are increasingly worried about its nuclear fleet, due to corrosion problems About the Fessenheim power plant, “if [les travaux de maintenance] had they just been done correctly on the rest of the park, we wouldn’t even be having this discussion today; it is not a subject, Fessenheim, ”swept Mr. Macron. “When I see the difficulties there are in keeping certain power stations open, even though they are much more recent, don’t come looking for me in Fessenheim. Fessenheim, in a way, the mass was said, the strategic decision had been taken five years before for the oldest power plant in the park. So she was consistent,” he added. The World with AFP