OREANDA-NEWS. France, against the background of rapidly rising energy prices, sets the bar for gas and electricity tariffs. «We are introducing a «tariff brake» to protect the purchasing power of the French», French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday evening, September 30.

According to Kastex, October gas tariffs will remain in place until April. He noted that otherwise the French heating bills would have increased by 30%. Electricity tariffs will remain until the end of the year, and then it can be increased by no more than 4%. Almost 6 million French households with low incomes will be paid by the state in December on an «energy check» in the amount of 100 euros.

Jean Castex announced these measures in the evening TV news and in social networks. In France, the rise in prices, including gasoline, is now a topic of broad public debate. On the eve of the presidential elections scheduled for April, the government of President Emmanuel Macron does not skimp on financial promises in various political projects, the dpa agency notes.

Meanwhile, in Germany, private households in the first half of 2021 had to pay 4.7% more for electricity and gas than in the second half of 2020. Electricity rose on average to 32.62 cents per sq/h, and gas — to 6.41 cents per sq/h, the Federal Statistical Office reported on Friday, October 1.

This price increase was mainly caused by a return to the original 19% VAT rate from the beginning of 2021. In order to stimulate consumption against the background of the coronavirus pandemic, the German government lowered the VAT on energy in the period from July 1 to December 31, 2020 to 16%.