The European Commission authorised, on Tuesday 4 April, a €3.5 billion French scheme to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and microenterprises in the context of Russia’s war against Ukraine.
The scheme was approved under the State aid Temporary Crisis and Transition Framework, adopted by the Commission on 9 March 2023.
Under this scheme, which goes by the name ‘amortisseur électrique’ (electric shock absorber), public support will consist of limited amounts of aid in the form of direct grants. The individual aid amount per company will be modulated based on its actual contractual price for 2023.
Eligible beneficiaries will benefit from a reduction in their electricity bill, whose amount will generally correspond to the difference between their contractual price in 2023 and a reference one, applicable to half of the electricity actually supplied to them each month (capped at 90% of their historical consumption).
The aid will be channelled through the electricity suppliers. In return, the latter will be compensated by the State for the reductions awarded based on the aforementioned method of calculation. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)