Maud Descamps, Jacques Serais and Manon Fossat 2:43 p.m., October 22, 2021

After 10 days of hesitation, the government finally came to a decision.

The aid granted to the French to cope with the rise in fuel prices will therefore be an "inflation allowance" of 100 euros.

It will be paid automatically to all those earning less than 2,000 euros net per month from December, or 38 million French people.

DECRYPTION

Prime Minister Jean Castex announced Thursday the establishment of an "inflation allowance" of 100 euros to cope with rising fuel prices.

This aid will be paid automatically to each French person earning less than 2,000 euros net per month, whether they are employees, retirees, self-employed, students, scholarship holders or fiscally independent.

The first payments will start in December and run until February.

An option that goes in the direction of Bercy, fundamentally opposed to the idea of ​​a reduction in taxation which had the defect of affecting everyone, without distinction of income.

But with this "inflation check", it is all the same 38 million French people who are concerned.

How to use this inflation compensation

This sum will be paid directly into their bank account.

For employees, for example, everything will go through the employer.

And for the self-employed, via Urssaf.

The premium is tax-free, so no tax will be levied on it.

Some companies are even taking up the subject, like the boss of Carrefour stores, Alexandre Bompard, who announced that he would double this "middle class allowance" to 85,000 employees.

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 - "Inflation compensation": why the government chose this option

The premium rather than the fuel check: behind the scenes of the decision

If the executive made the choice of this "inflation allowance", it is because Emmanuel Macron's instructions were summed up in three words: readability, clarity and consistency. And according to information obtained by Europe 1, everything was played on Thursday. On Wednesday the Head of State was having lunch with the Prime Minister, and during this summit meal, just after the Council of Ministers, the reduction in fuel taxes was ruled out. It was indeed judged as "not sufficiently targeted" by the executive couple, and too heavy for public finances. The idea of ​​a "fuel check" intended only for motorists was also put aside. A "gas plant", "too complicated" to implement, reports an adviser.On Wednesday, the president's message for Bercy and Matignon was to return to work.

And it is Thursday that this "inflation allowance" came out of the hat and that it was favored by the palace insofar as it brings together the three criteria of the presidential roadmap.

An option piloted directly from the Elysee Palace, because still according to information from Europe 1, Thursday the Head of State and his Prime Minister spoke throughout the day, even a few minutes before Jean's announcements Castex.

"Not a lasting solution"

For the opposition, this measure responds to the urgency but does not resolve the basic problem.

This is what Damien Abad, president of the LR group explained to the National Assembly, Friday on Europe Midi.

"The reality of this check today is that the government is giving gift vouchers on credit while the country is in debt," he said.

"We proposed to lower taxes, which certainly has a cost, but above all a big advantage is that it is a lasting solution. There, we will pay a check for 100 euros, but if the prices at the pump continue to climb, the problem will be the same for the French ", regretted the leader of LR deputies.

>> Find Europe midi in replay and podcast here

According to him, this proposal from the right to lower taxes "has almost the same cost" as the check introduced by the government.

"Our proposal was to lower the price of fuel by 10 euro cents, which represents about 5 billion euros, against 4 billion in the case of the option of the executive," he said. insured.

"In 2018 the latter decided to increase taxes so since then, 16 billion euros have been captured by the state. And today it simply needs to give purchasing power back to the French", a insisted Damien Abad.

Tackle Inflation

Especially since for him, the inflation observed in recent months with the recovery of the economy has not started to calm down. "The problem with this policy of failure is that we will not be able to get by with checks permanently. We can buy social peace for a few months, but we do not solve the problems of the French So we have to tackle this inflation, which concerns fuels, but also electricity, gas and food products, "he added.

At the risk of paying the consequences on the interest rate or access to housing.

"I ask the government to tackle the basic problems on its energy policy, on its pricing policy, on the question of wages in France, on that of purchasing power ... All these subjects must be put on the table . Because for now, we mostly have a plaster on a wooden leg. "