Gabriel Attal took great pleasure in this debate by questioning Jordan Bardella on the texts voted on in the European Parliament. To better suggest the shortcomings of his opponent.
In the middle of a courteous but sometimes tense debate, Gabriel Attal could not hold back a triumphant smile. The Prime Minister, who faced National Rally President Jordan Bardella on France 2 on Thursday evening, took every possible opportunity to push his opponent into error. As when the discussion focused on the reform of the European electricity market, voted in the European Parliament with the support of the Macronists. Gabriel Attal then did not hesitate to question Jordan Bardella’s knowledge on the file.
“I don’t need to read it, sir.”
“We have been fighting for months to obtain a reform which finally allows us to decouple the price of electricity from the price of gas and to integrate the price of nuclear power,” boasted Gabriel Attal. “Are there French people who have seen their bills drop?” Jordan Bardella interrupted. “But it’s not me who is in the European Parliament, it’s you,” attacked Gabriel Attal. “But I voted against this reform,” recalled the MEP. “If you have read it, you should know that it does not come into force until 2026,” replied the Prime Minister.
“I don’t need to read it, sir. I look at the energy bill of the French and businesses,” defended the president of the RN. “But you don’t read texts before voting? You don’t read laws before voting on them?” Gabriel Attal was jubilant, before hammering home: “The reform comes into force in 2026 so it is normal that it does not apply yet.”
The reform of the European electricity market, in negotiations for several months, was only definitively adopted in the European Parliament on April 11. It aims to stabilize energy prices and also provides advantageous contracts for investments in renewable and nuclear power. These “contracts for difference”, according to The echoesshould only apply three years after the law comes into force.