On Wednesday evening, Georges-Louis Bouchez was the guest on Le Monde en direct on La Première, facing Yvan Verougstraete, to debate the energy crisis and the responses needed. The MR President defended a clear line: quickly ease the burden on households and businesses, while building a realistic strategy to guarantee our long-term energy independence.
Faced with soaring prices at the pump, he recalled a concrete measure: "By lowering excise duties to the minimum allowed by the European Union, we could reduce fuel prices by 29 to 32 cents per litre of petrol or diesel." For the MR, inaction would come at a far higher cost: weakened businesses, workers penalised in their commutes and slowed growth.
Georges-Louis Bouchez also called for a European initiative. "The problem of fuel prices is just a symptom of a much broader problem of international tensions." The European Union must therefore adopt a genuine strategy on energy prices, growth and protection against hybrid threats.
A transition grounded in reality
The President denounced the ideological choices that have too often guided European energy policy. "We destroyed technology we had, such as nuclear power," even though this energy source is precisely an indispensable lever for achieving the transition.
The MR rejects unrealistic promises. The energy transition cannot simply be decreed: it is built through innovation, investment and genuinely mature technologies. "A law cannot replace a technology that is not yet mature," Georges-Louis Bouchez reminded.
That is why the MR defends a two-stage strategy: preserving and developing strategic industrial capacities, particularly nuclear power, and securing our oil and gas supplies by gradually reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. Because without affordable energy, there is no competitiveness, no jobs and no means to finance the transition.
"It is the engineers who have the answer, not the politicians," Georges-Louis Bouchez insisted. A credible transition must protect the climate, purchasing power and European prosperity all at once.