French fuel discount to almost double in a few days!
[Updated on 22 August 2022] The aim of the government's reinforced scheme is to relieve motorists of the burden of rising fuel prices in France, despite a notable fall in recent weeks. Indeed, after having happily exceeded 2 euros during the summer, a litre of fuel is now offered at 1.80 euros on average. [linternaute.com]
The "fuel discount" to limit the increase in the price of oil came into force on 1 April. It will change on 1 September.
It is the flagship measure of the Government's resilience plan. The "fuel discount" came into force on 1 April 2022. It will change from 1 September.
The measure will change progressively from September onwards. In detail, the fuel discount will be 30 cents per litre in September and October, and then 10 cents per litre in November and December.
The "fuel discount" applies to both private and business customers. It is also a support measure for farmers, fishermen, road hauliers, taxis and the public works sector.
how is the "fuel discount" implemented?
A subsidy of 15 euro cents (excluding tax) (or the above-mentioned amount for CNG and LPG-c) is paid to the fuel distributors (the distributors furthest upstream in the distribution network) for the volumes sold.
The aid is then passed on to the service stations or professionals, and passed on to the final consumer. When consumers arrive at a service station, they see the price of the fuel already discounted on both the totems and the prices at the pump. They therefore pay the discounted fuel price directly.
This scheme is not limited in terms of the volume of fuel sold: it is therefore not necessary to visit a petrol station from 1 April to benefit from it.
Although the Economy Ministry website does not explain how this discount/rebate is financed, reading between the lines of information published previously and from the interview [quoted below] with the Finance Minister, this is being jointly financed with TotalEnergie, in return for Total not having to pay taxes on all their "superprofits".
The government has been asking TotalEnergies for several weeks for financial efforts to support the budget of motorists while the company is making spectacular profits due to the soaring price of hydrocarbons and electricity. This Friday [19/8/22] Bruno Le Maire, the Minister of Economy and Finance, "welcomed" the new rebate from TotalEnergies and even says he is open to jointly increasing state aid at the pump. " If our 18 cents are insufficient, we can increase this discount even if it means giving up other aspects of our project" , declared the minister on RMC and BFM TV without detailing the amount of this increase. [latribune.fr]
maintaining the tariff shield on energy prices
The government has committed to maintaining the tariff shield that was put in place at the end of 2021. This will cap the increase in electricity bills at 4% and freeze gas prices at their October 2021 level. The scheme will be extended until the end of 2022.
In addition, 230 million euros are planned for low-income households that heat with fuel oil.
