The French president warned that plans to curtail energy this winter are being prepared “in case” voluntary efforts are not enough. Mr Macron urged people to ditch heating and air conditioning as “the best energy is the one we don’t use”, adding that forced cuts “will be done as a last resort”. Find out which supermarkets have raised prices the most – the cost of living most recently Speaking after a virtual meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Mr Macron unveiled a plan to increase gas supplies from France to Germany to offset falling Russian gas supplies. Germany is more dependent than most EU states on Russian gas. Macron said Germany would, in return, continue to supply electricity to France to cover shortfalls caused by maintenance being carried out on French nuclear reactors. The leaders spoke ahead of an emergency meeting of EU energy ministers on Friday about how the bloc can coordinate to keep warm this winter if Russia cuts gas supplies. Macron said France and Germany support requiring energy companies to make a “contribution” to public coffers from large profits from gas and oil price hikes, as well as a price cap on Russian natural gas . He also said France was in favor of buying natural gas at a European rather than a national level and called for EU measures to control energy prices. Use Chrome browser for more accessible video player 2:44 Russia closes gas pipeline to Europe Wholesale gas prices rose on Monday after Russia last week cut gas flows through a major pipeline, Nord Stream 1, that runs under the Baltic Sea to Germany. Europe has accused Moscow of rigging energy supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine ‘making real gains’ – war lately Russia blames these sanctions for causing gas supply problems, which were due to a pipeline fault. Nord Stream 1 has traditionally delivered about a third of the natural gas exported by Russia to Europe, although it was already operating at only 20% of capacity before last week’s maintenance outage.
