Frequent Increase in French Motorway Tolls: What You Need to Know

2023-11-29 16:16:00

The announcement had already come, and it is now common among French motorists. The price of motorway tolls will increase once more, around 2.71% and 3.87%, taking into account inflation. This “limited” increase (as clarified by Clément Beaune, the French Minister of Transport) will be active on February 1, the now traditional date for this increase.

”Toll prices increase every year on February 1st. This is particularly linked to inflation. There has been a lot of misinformation, sometimes lies, linked to this tax on motorway companies. It has no impact on the evolution of tolls”, explained the minister in particular at the microphone of RMC.

Tolls on French motorways: here is the “salami” tip to pay less on the holiday route

Indeed, this tax that Clément Beaune is talking regarding will also be established by 2024. But according to his words, it does not apply to the increase in the price of tolls, contrary to what had been announced. It will bring the French State 600 million euros per year for “imperatives” necessary in terms of ecological transitions, by affecting “polluting transport infrastructures, whether road or air”, as had been explained Bruno le Maire, Minister of the Economy. These famous road infrastructures therefore threaten to considerably increase the price of tolls, but Clément Beaune recalls that only the State is capable of validating the legal text of such an increase.

Crit’Air sticker, unlimited tolls, increase in prices: beware of the new rules in France!

+5% in 2025?

According to the current state of affairs, such an increase should therefore not see the light of day. But a legal battle is likely to loom between the State and the large concessionaires on the subject. It is not impossible to see motorway companies bypassing the various existing contracts, thus making motorists pay the bill indirectly. One of France’s main motorway concessionaires, Vinci, has claimed that tolls would increase by 5% if the tax on motorway concessions was implemented.

Tolls on French motorways: here is the “salami” tip to pay less on the holiday route

This new tax will be used to finance the ecological transition and in particular investments in railway infrastructure. Determined not to pay it, the president of Vinci Autoroutes Pierre Coppey promised to challenge it “by all means”. In the meantime, French and international motorists may have to expect astronomical increases.

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