Le patron d’Intermarché maintient son appel à suspendre les CEE mais reconnaît des difficultés

Paris - As fuel prices surge and the "symbolic threshold" of €2.50 per liter approaches, Intermarché group president Thierry Cotillard has once again called for a suspension of energy saving certificates (CEE), during the POLITICO Playbook Paris Live summit on Thursday. Cotillard affirmed that the CEE mechanism should never be considered again, as it must fund all decarbonization efforts.

However, in a crisis situation, he suggested "decalring" (adjusting) the 17 centimes specifically for consumers. The CEE is not a tax but an extrabudgetary mechanism that obliges energy companies to finance energy-saving measures, such as electric vehicles, home energy renovations, and industry decarbonization. These roughly €10 billion euros fund these efforts, but are passed on to consumers via higher bills.

In spring, several fuel distributors had already advocated for a suspension, and the Federation of Commerce and Distribution sent a letter to the government expressing this view. Recently, they reiterated this argument as fuel prices rose again. For now, the executive has refused to suspend the CEE, citing the need to fund the transition.

Cotillard acknowledged that once suspended, it would be difficult for a government to relaunch the CEE, risking its eventual abandonment: "I understand the political uncertainty of pressing the button." While the government's targeted aid policy is "good," he believes it must be "recalibrated" in light of price changes.