France will be able to get through this winter without power cuts if the country as a whole makes a collective effort to save up on energy, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told RTL radio on Wednesday.

"Speaking frankly, let us stop, there is no need to panic," said Borne, reaffirming a similar message along these lines from President Emmanuel Macron earlier in the week.

On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron had said it was "absurd" to worry that power blackouts would cripple infrastructure in France this winter and insisted the country would get through spells of freezing weather in spite of the energy crisis gripping Europe. (Reporting by Tassilo Hummel; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta)