France wants the British government to take on a greater share the cost of developing new nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C in the UK, finance minister Bruno Le Maire said, according to press reports.

“There needs to be a fair sharing of the costs,” he said at an event marking the 50th anniversary of the International Energy Agency in Paris.

Le Maire’s comments follow a report in the London-based Financial Times last month that a French economy ministry official had called for the British government has to increase its funding for the Hinkley Point C project, for which France’s state energy company EDF is supplying two EPR plants.