Macron acknowledges rising cost of living in France

MOSCOW, Sep 22 — PRIME. Living in France has risen in price, the cost of food and electricity has increased, French leader Emmanuel Macron said.

“Life has become more expensive, so our compatriots are in a difficult situation. We have increased prices for food, energy and so on. We have taken measures to protect the population,” he said in an interview with BFMTV.

Macron stressed that the people of France will survive the winter “if everyone does their part.”

This summer, the French authorities launched an “energy sobriety” program with the goal of reducing electricity consumption by ten percent in order to avoid resource shortages in the coming winter. The government called on businesses and transport companies to submit specific plans to reduce energy consumption.

The French authorities have also previously taken a number of tough measures to save energy, including expanding the ban on illuminated advertising, forbidding shops to keep doors open when the air conditioning or heating system is running. In addition, retail outlets were ordered to turn off illuminated signs and air ventilation at night, reduce the brightness of lighting by 50% before the arrival of customers, and by 30% during normal hours in case of a critical level of power consumption.