PARIS -
Two surprise guests appeared on the arena of presidential topics that the parties focus on months before the elections, such as the immigration file, as high fuel prices and low purchasing power became one of the most important things that occupy and burden the pocket of three quarters of the French in recent times, according to an opinion poll conducted by "Elap". For BFM TV.
It is well known that the European Union is experiencing a stifling crisis in recent times, whose features have been crystallized around the rise in energy prices.
In France, prices at the pump rose by another two years last week, reaching historically high levels of 1.72 euros per liter on average for diesel, a record since 2012, and 1.76 euros for unleaded gasoline containing up to 10% ethanol.
Observers explain the rise in the global price of a barrel of oil with the economic recovery in the world, and the limited supply from some producing countries. However, the situation in France is exceptional, as this rise does not affect the economy only, but also the purchasing power of each individual, and affects the political scenario in particular.
Could high fuel prices in France give new life to a movement that started 3 years ago?
The rise in fuel prices has a long history in France, and it is considered a very sensitive topic. In the fall of 2018, the “yellow vests” movement was born from a petition to protest against the rise in fuel prices, and it is likely that it will rise from its ashes and resume its activities again in light of the current conditions, and this is an assumption that worries the government.
Although the Yellow Vests movement gradually ran out of momentum, it participated in separate demonstrations to reform the pension system in the winter of 2019 and then in the demonstrations against the health passport in the summer of 2021, and this means that the ability of the movement to reconstitute the ranks is not excluded.
Consequently, Macron's government is still apprehensive about the movement's reaction in the coming period, despite the current calm, and the specter of the yellow vests has once again invaded the country's skies.
The rise in fuel prices has a long history in France and is a very sensitive topic (Al-Jazeera)
What are the measures taken by the French government to contain the rise in prices and prevent the emergence of a social movement comparable to the movement of the yellow vests after the rise in gas and electricity prices?
Fearing the emergence of the yellow vest movement with a thousand faces, Macron's government is trying to contain a potential conflagration just six months before the presidential election, and Prime Minister Jean Castix has stated that he is watching fuel prices "like milk on fire".
In the face of this sharp increase in fuel prices, Castex announced on October 28 that a "inflation allowance" of 100 euros will be paid to about 38 million French people who earn less than two thousand euros per month, whether they are employed, retired, unemployed or Scholarship recipients, between December and February 2022.
As government spokesman Gabriel Attal said, "If these increases continue, we will consider preventive measures, as we did with gas and electricity."
After the Minister of Economy and Finance, Bruno Le Maire, discussed the impact of high energy prices during the general meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington last month, he said that electricity prices will not increase by more than 4% at the beginning of 2022 after they were supposed to increase 3 times, and gas prices will be frozen. .
Although the government still refuses to take tax relief at this point, it is not closing the door to proposing mechanisms to help, likely due to the proposal by most presidential candidates, including Anne Hidalgo, Fabien Roussel and Marine Le Pen, to cut fuel taxes.
Why do the French think that everything is overpriced and that their purchasing power is declining?
Instead of the French families being preoccupied with the requirements of the new school year, 75% of them focused on how to pay the bills for gas, fuel, electricity and other products that they consume on a daily basis. Even the baguette or baguette was not spared from the high price tag.
A survey showed that food products cost an average of 15% more than the rest of the European Union, a difference in price justified by the quality of the products and the cost of labor in France.
Purchasing power increased by 1.4% on an annual average compared to 2020, according to the statistics of the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies "INSEE", which was also confirmed by the French Observatory of Economic Conditions "OFCE" (OFCE), which expects Purchasing power will increase by the end of 2021 by 1.9%, despite the acceleration of inflation, which has risen to more than 2% since last September.
These numbers are higher than those recorded during the presidency of François Hollande (0.2%) and Nicolas Sarkozy (0%), although both lived in a more fragile economic context characterized by increased taxes on families, and when Emmanuel Macron took office in 2017, 80% of the French confirmed their financial situation deteriorated.
Food products in France cost an average of 15% of the household budget more than the rest of the European Union (Getty Images)
The change in purchasing power is usually associated with the total disposable income of households and the change in the consumer price index, but why do the French feel that their purchasing power is diminishing?
This situation can be partially explained by the sharp rise in rent, energy, transportation, food products, etc., especially for the most modest families.
Six months before the next presidential election and ahead of the mandatory annual negotiations taking place between December and next February, wage increases are sure to be a central and structural issue in public debate.
With the French presidential elections approaching, how did the candidates react to the current situation in the country?
The opposition parties did not delay in expressing their rejection of the measures proposed by Macron's government, and the features of the battle for taxes and family income support began to appear on the files of the announced presidential candidates.
In an interview on RTL, Republican presidential candidate Michel Barnier called for tax cuts in France.
"I think the state should stop enriching itself at a time when the French are getting poorer," he said.
The former minister targeted the recent 12.5% increase on gas and on taxes, such as the value-added tax on electricity and gas.
"Buying social peace with gift vouchers is good, addressing the causes of high fuel, electricity and food prices is better," MPs leader Damien Abad tweeted.
As for Xavier Bertrand, president of the Hauts-de-France region and the candidate of the Republican Party, he criticized what the Macron administration is doing, accusing it of "carrying out electoral campaigns through the checkbook (in reference to the inflation allowance of one hundred euros) as the approaching approach The date of the 2022 presidential elections.
National Rally candidate Marine Le Pen presented herself as a candidate for purchasing power, saying that her proposals, if implemented, would "return to French families two hundred euros per month in purchasing power... We have to return the purchasing power of the French because the money that is unfairly seized is taken. them to create unnecessary or harmful expenses.
On the rise in fuel prices, Le Pen commented, "With me, there will be 8 euros less on the price for a full 40 liters."
In the end, it is clear that the upcoming presidential elections in France will play on sensitive strings among citizens, as each candidate will try to use them in various ways to tip the scales in his favour.