Electricity market reform: UFC-Que Choisir and CLCV are alarmed by the government's forced passage

UFC-Que Choisir and CLCV are concerned that such an important subject is not the subject of a dedicated bill that would leave room for parliamentary discussion and would not threaten to force through Article 49.3. The two associations are therefore asking the Government to withdraw the article from the PLF containing this reform.

Electricity market reform deserves a real parliamentary debate

The rules of the current market regulation, set out in the NOME law of 2010, must end on 31 December 2025. While the two consumer associations have been asking for many years that the development of the new regulatory framework be done in a concerted manner with all stakeholders in total transparency, they have been excluded from any discussion on the subject to leave it to the State and EDF to negotiate it together in complete secrecy (1).

Today, the Government is going even further in democratic denial, since instead of addressing this issue, which has major and lasting impacts on consumer bills, in a dedicated bill, it is skimming over it in the 2025 Finance Bill (PLF). By doing so, the Government is not only excluding associations from discussions on the implementation of future regulation of the electricity market (even though consumers are the main stakeholders in the issue!), but is also depriving parliamentarians of the necessary discussion time on the proposed reform.

Another reform is needed to avoid a new explosion of bills

The method adopted by the Government is all the more questionable since the reform proposed in the PLF follows the general framework advocated at the beginning of the year by its predecessor. UFC-Que Choisir and CLCV had highlighted the serious inflationary consequences that such a revision of the regulation would entail. It would in fact ensure that EDF would be able to resell all of its nuclear production on the markets in order to redistribute only a small part of the profits made to consumers (this redistribution does not concern the new nuclear power plants for which all of the profits would benefit EDF) (2).

In a context where the Government wishes to considerably increase taxation on electricity (increase of the TICFE by almost 50% (3) and increase of VAT from 5,5% to 20% on the subscription) (4), consumers are more than ever entitled to demand that the price of electricity in France be based on the domestic production costs of electricity (in particular those of nuclear and hydroelectric production) and not on that of the wholesale markets.

Consequently, UFC-Que Que Choisir and CLCV are asking the Government to withdraw Article 4 of the 2025 finance bill setting out the rules for new market regulation, in order to address this issue within the framework of a dedicated bill.

Furthermore, the two organisations reiterate the need for broad consultation with stakeholders, including consumer representatives, to determine the framework for new market regulation.

In this context in particular, UFC-Que Choisir and CLCV will reiterate their commitment to maintaining the regulated tariff, the only offer truly supervised by the public authorities, and to its reform so that it is calculated based solely on the real costs of electricity supply from the historic operator.

(1) See https://www.quechoisir.org/action-ufc-que-choisir-marche-de-l-electricite-l-ufc-que-choisir-denonce-un-accord-de-marchands-de-tapis-negocie-dans-l-ombre-n113370/ et https://www.clcv.org/communiques-de-presse/reforme-du-marche-de-lelectricite-letat-et-edf-sentendent-sur-le-dos-des-consommateurs-pour-facturer-un-prix-du-nucleaire-exorbitant

(2) For more details, cf. https://www.quechoisir.org/action-ufc-que-choisir-marche-de-l-electricite-l-ufc-que-choisir-et-la-clcv-demandent-au-gouvernement-de-revoir-une-copie-deja-obsolete-n118446/

(3) https://www.quechoisir.org/action-ufc-que-choisir-taxes-sur-l-electricite-l-ufc-que-choisir-denonce-un-scandale-fiscal-n131850/

(4) This increase in VAT on the subscription provided for in the PFF 2025 would also apply to the gas subscription.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.