According to Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Monday, France is preparing energy backup plans due to reductions in Russian gas flows that have affected the European market, Reuters reported.

Le Maire stated that discussions on the subject had already begun with French Energy Minister Agnes Pannier-Runacher, though specifics had not yet been worked out.

On RMC Radio Le Maire said that they will decide which companies are of the greatest strategic importance, namely those for whom they can permit gas to be shut off and those for whom they cannot accept any cuts.

In addition, Bruno Le Maire, the French finance minister, stated on Monday that he agreed with the senior executives of France’s energy firms who urged people and businesses to immediately cut back on their energy usage in order to prepare for an impending energy crisis.

In an open letter published by the weekly newspaper Journal du Dimanche, the chief executives of Engie (ENGIE.PA), EDF (EDF.PA), and TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) stated that “we need to work together to lower our consumption in order to restore room to manoeuvre.”

In the letter, Catherine MacGregor of Engie, Jean-Bernard Levy of EDF, and Patrick Pouyanne of TotalEnergies noted substantial drops in Russian gas supplies as well as constrained electricity production as a result of maintenance concerns.