France would risk higher power prices and even blackouts if it were to exit the European Union’s single energy market, said the chief executive officer of the utility Engie SA.
In an opinion piece published Sunday in la Tribune Dimanche, Engie’s Catherine MacGregor defended the benefits of the bloc’s energy market, saying it had allowed France to access supplies from other countries when its own production fell short in recent years.
“Without a European power market, we’d be exposed to even more volatile prices, and even to the risk of blackouts,” MacGregor wrote. “Re-introducing energy barriers within Europe would increase the risk of supply problems and higher prices.”
The EU’s power market has become a point of focus in French politics after the far-right National Rally party said it would seek to re-introduce French pricing and exit the indexation of power prices on the European gas market if it were to gain control next month.
National Rally has risen in popularity in recent years, partly on the back of voters’ worries about the surge in gas and power bills following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
President Emmanuel Macron this month dissolved the National Assembly and called a snap legislative vote after his group was trounced in this month’s European Parliament elections. The first round of voting is June 30.