As French President Emmanuel Macron makes the rounds in Washington starting Wednesday for the first state visit of the Biden administration, high on his agenda are his plans for a nuclear energy “renaissance.” His entourage includes the major players from France’s nuclear energy industry, who will be looking to the French leader to help boost the development and export of their technology, including smaller and more versatile reactors, the Washington Post reported. But there could hardly be a more awkward time to promote French nuclear know-how.

The French government, which plans to retake full ownership of Electricite de France SA, has no plan to subsequently dismantle the utility after the €9.7 billion ($10 billion) buyout, according to the Finance Ministry, Bloomberg News reported. The state, which already owns 84% of the nuclear giant, wants the company to keep growing its output of renewable energy alongside building new nuclear plants, Finance Ministry officials said at a press briefing on Monday. Earlier, a lawmaker had said the government was still pursuing a project to spin off minority stakes in some of EDF’s activities.

Growth in French mortgage lending slowed to the weakest pace this year in September as the European Central Bank’s rate hikes began to dent demand in the euro area’s second-largest economy, Bloomberg News reported. Outstanding lending for home purchases grew 6.2% from a year earlier after rising 6.3% in August, and the Bank of France said early indicators show a further slowdown to 6% in October. The average interest rate for new housing loans is estimated at 1.79% in October -- the most expensive since 2016.

Tens of thousands of French workers took to the streets Tuesday across the country, striking for pay hikes that keep up with rising inflation, the Associated Press reported. The industrial action came after weeks of walkouts that have hobbled French oil refineries and sparked gasoline shortages around the country. “It’s time to go back to work,” French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said Tuesday about people on strike in the French refineries of oil giant TotalEnergies.

The French government moved to break blockades at fuel depots of some of the country’s biggest refineries, where weeks-long strikes that have brought shortages and long lines at gas stations, Bloomberg News reported. With wage talks between managements and some unions not going far enough, the labor actions have left almost a third of the gas stations in the country with supply shortfalls.

The French economy will slow sharply next year in the face of Europe's energy crisis, with a risk of a "limited and temporary" recession in the worst-case scenario, the central bank said on Thursday, Reuters reported. The euro zone's second-biggest economy is on course for an expansion this year of 2.6% but growth will slow to 0.5% in 2023, the Bank of France said, under its reference scenario based on recent oil and gas futures prices.

The French government is lowering the country's 2023 economic growth outlook, but sees no need to revise its budget deficit target as a result, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Growth in the euro zone's second-biggest economy is now expected to slow from an estimated 2.5% this year to 1% next year, down from 1.4% previously, Le Maire told journalists as he outlined the main forecasts underpinning the 2023 budget bill due later this month.

French power distributor Electricite de Strasbourg SA oversold large quantities of electricity due to trading errors earlier this week, a mistake that could cost the company 60 million euros ($60.3 million). The utility’s ES Energies Strasbourg unit made quantity errors on transactions on Tuesday and Wednesday amounting to 2.03 gigawatts and 5.75 gigawatts of electricity, the company said in a statement.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne urged businesses to cut energy use or face possible rationing this winter if Russia halts gas deliveries, Bloomberg News reported. “It’s urgent to stop any energy consumption that isn’t indispensable immediately,” Borne said on Monday in a speech to business leaders at a conference near Paris. If not “there could be brutal gas outages overnight and serious economic and social consequences,” she said, adding that “companies would be the first hit” by any rationing.

The French Parliament approved an inflation relief package on Thursday that aims to prop up citizens’ purchasing power and help them deal with soaring consumer prices and energy costs, the New York Times reported. The package was split into two bills. The first, specifically designed to fight inflation with a raft of measures worth 20 billion euros, or about $20.4 billion, was passed by the two houses of Parliament on Wednesday.