Soaring prices: the government favors fuel checks rather than lower taxes – archyde

How to mitigate the surge in prices at the pump for the wallet of the French? While the government is considering the establishment of a device to cope, the main road fuels sold in France continued to rise and increased again by two cents last week, with diesel reaching new records, according to official figures. from the Ministry of Ecological Transition broadcast Monday, October 18.

The ministers of the economy, Bruno Le Maire, and of the ecological transition, Barbara Pompili, spoke on Monday of their preference for the track of a fuel check under study. “There will be short-term action”, had promised, Friday, Emmanuel Macron.

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• Fuels rose another two cents last week

Prices at the pump follow the price of a barrel of oil, which has rebounded sharply with the global economic recovery and still limited supplies from certain producing countries.

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The liter of diesel was worth on average 1.5583 euros, against 1.5354 euros the previous week, reaching new historic highs. SP 95 gasoline, for its part, reached 1.6567 euros per liter on average, according to this weekly score on Friday, October 15. It also rose by just over two cents over the previous week, the highest for nearly ten years, without however beating the 2012 record (1.6664 euros).

The SP 95-E10 also rose in the same proportions to 1.6287 euro, to its highest ever.

• The trail of a fuel check rather than a reduction in taxes

Asked Monday about Europe 1, Mr. The Mayor said to himself “More favorable” the creation of a fuel voucher, on the model of the energy voucher, than a reduction in taxes on diesel and gasoline. “There is still work to be done”, he nevertheless qualified. The stake is ” above all [de] know that it can happen as quickly as possible to the French “ who need it, he explained.

A tax cut would be “Unfair”, because it would not target households that need it most and ” it is very expensive “, because a drop of one cent, hardly noticeable, represents “Half a billion euros” in less in the coffers of the State, argued Mr. Le Maire.

Furthermore, “It is a subsidy for fossil fuels, precisely what we want to avoid” in the strategy to combat global warming.

The Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili, also confirmed on France 2 the track of a device such as a fuel check, with a solution that will be announced “As soon as we can”. “I don’t know in what form yet. We are still trying to find a way to reach the right people ”, did she say. And to explain:

“Today, as with the energy check, we do not have a database of all the people who might need it. We don’t have a database of people who need their cars to go to work, for example. “

The government has already put in place last month, with payment scheduled for December, an exceptional energy check of 100 euros for the nearly 6 million households already benefiting from this system. The cost will be 600 million euros. In addition, the cap on the increase in electricity prices expected in February will cost the State 5 billion euros.

• A gesture requested from fuel distributors

Barbara Pompili also asked distributors last week “To make a gesture in this difficult period, by reducing their margins”, to relieve the French wallet.

The E.Leclerc centers announced Monday that they would sell fuel at cost price until October 30 in all their service stations, excluding motorway stations. “We are making the maximum effort that the law allows us to make. We do not currently have the right to resell at a loss ”, declared in a press release Michel-Edouard Leclerc, president of the strategic committee of the E.Leclerc centers.

• Freezing gas prices: the favorable regulator

Another front, that of gas: the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) on Monday issued a favorable opinion on the terms of the price freeze announced by the government to cope with soaring prices, while recommending a drop in taxation from January.

“The intervention of the public authorities in these extreme circumstances is justified”, concludes CRE in a decision relating to two draft government decrees, on which it “Gives a favorable opinion”.

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Given the current price spike on the markets, Engie’s regulated tariffs – on which the offers of many suppliers are indexed – would have potentially increased by 19.5% incl.^er November, then by a similar percentage in December, recalls the regulator.

Prime Minister Jean Castex announced at the end of September “A tariff shield” with the blocking of the regulated gas tariff, responding as in other European countries to the general surge in energy prices. He also raised the possibility of lowering taxes on gas.

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This decision is reflected in two draft decrees making it possible in particular to freeze the level of the regulated gas sales tariffs (TRVG) of Engie. Concretely, the regulated tariff will be frozen until June 30, 2022 at the level of 1^er October.

Distributors will therefore have to sell gas to consumers this winter at a lower price than the very high market prices. Then from the spring, it will be up to consumers to pay a little more for gas than market prices, so that the sums paid in addition during the winter by the operators are recovered.

“The decree projects provide for the complete catching up of sums not collected during the tariff freeze”, notes the CRE, which ensures that the government’s decision does not weigh on the financial situation of suppliers.

“CRE recommends that a temporary reduction in gas taxation (TICGN) can be implemented from the 1^er January 2022 » : such a tax reduction “Is essential to limit the financial exposure of suppliers and facilitate subsequent tariff catching up”. She also recommends “To provide an additional aid system for suppliers who find themselves in serious financial difficulty as a result of the tariff freeze”.

• Redistribute the “tax pot” to the most vulnerable, for EELV, call for the mobilization of the PCF

The boss of Europe Ecology-The Greens (EELV), Julien Bayou, pleaded Monday to redistribute the “Tax pot” linked to the rise in prices at the pump thanks to an additional energy check defended by the EELV presidential candidate Yannick Jadot, giving priority to households “The most vulnerable”. Julien Bayou also considered on Sud Radio that a reduction in fuel taxes would be “A very bad idea”, because it would concern ” everybody “, wealthy and modest households, which does not allow “Focus the effort on the people who need it” financially.

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Calling for “Aim wide”, up to “15 million families”, the national secretary of EELV thus defended the energy checks of 400 euros for the most modest households and of 100 euros for the middle classes, proposed by Mr. Jadot on Sunday.

For his part, the candidate of the Communist Party (PCF) for the presidential election, Fabien Roussel, who calls in particular for “Lower the price at the pump by 50 cents”, called on Monday for mobilizations in front of the prefectures and for a national rally on November 21 in Paris to obtain measures from the government ” right now “ for “Regain purchasing power”.

The World with AFP