With prices at the pump surging and a showdown looming with major gas supplier Russia, the French president addressed the European Parliament to mark France's rotating presidency of the bloc. We ask about what Emmanuel Macron said and didn't say about the highest fuel prices in seven years with some of Paris's petrol stations asking two euros a litre at the pump.
With Macron expected to officially launch his re-election bid in the coming months, we ask our guests about the French government pulling out the stops to keep a lid on energy bills. He has asked the energy supplier EDF to take an €8 billion hit on rates for consumers. Employees at what was once a state monopoly are planning a strike. They are angry at EU rules that impose the free market and in this case, for EDF to sell energy at a loss to smaller rivals.
There's also the essential question: is Europe's core philosophy out of touch on energy? Should Brussels have a bigger say on pooling imports - like they did with vaccines - and imposing a quicker transition to a more carbon-neutral energy mix that puts public service before profits?
>> Watch our Reporters show: Nord Stream 2: A pipeline too far?
Produced by Charles Wente, Sophie Pizzimenti and Léopoldine Iribarren.
