France: the government's avenues to contain the rise in fuel prices
In a service station in Montpellier, in the south of France, on October 12, 2021. AFP - PASCAL GUYOT
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
In France, while the price of fuel continues to climb, the government is working on aid to contain the increase.
Faced with this new surge in prices at the pump, the government is studying several avenues to help the most precarious motorists.
Between the reduction in taxes and a fuel check, the last trade-offs are underway.
The government promises a response by the end of the week.
Advertising
Read more
For the government, there is
no question of facing a new crisis
of "yellow vests" a few months before the presidential election.
The latter had paralyzed the country three years ago, already because of an increase in fuels.
►Also read
: France: the rise in fuel prices tends to users and the government
Two measures are being studied: either a reduction in taxes, or a fuel check, on the model of the energy check for gas and electricity distributed to the six million most modest households.
According to government spokesperson Gabriel Attal, “
the ideal is to have direct assistance targeted at people who need their car, in order to help them
”.
Lower taxes that are too expensive
According to Bercy, lowering taxes would be too costly for the state.
For example, a reduction of 1 cent in fuel taxes represents half a billion euros in lost revenue for the State, moreover it does not allow the most modest motorists to be specifically targeted.
The Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire seems to lean in favor of the fuel check which would directly reach the most precarious users.
But its implementation could prove to be too complicated, because the government does not have a list indicating the people concerned.
Another avenue could be chosen, that of a floating tax.
When the price of fuel goes up, the tax goes down.
The advantage of this mechanism would also be to protect the middle classes excluded from the first two mechanisms dedicated to the most vulnerable.
Newsletter
Receive all international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_FR
France
Oil
French politics
Yellow vests