“insufficient”, “normal”, political reactions to the discount announced by Jean Castex

The prices of all fuels, and in particular diesel, have been rising continuously for more than two months, in France as in the rest of Europe and elsewhere, making it one of the important topics of the electoral campaign, with the inflation in general. The rise was caused by oil production failing to keep pace with the strong global economic recovery, which was further accelerated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In France, on average, a liter of diesel was worth 1.8831 euros in the first week of March, but prices today are well over 2 euros at many service stations. The discount will be made at the time of payment, at the cash desk or by credit card at the pump, and will therefore not be immediately visible on the prices displayed, detailed the head of government.

Call for tankers

If the State will then “reimburse” the distributors, Jean Castex called on them, just like the “oil companies”, to make themselves “an additional gesture”. “How would the French understand that they pay a full tank of diesel at 2 euros, while at the same time the oil companies are still making big profits,” he wondered.

The announcement caused the suitors at the Élysée to react: insufficient for Marine Le Pen, for whom “the government is making fun of us by lowering the price by 15 cents” ten days before the first round on April 10. The communist candidate Fabien Roussel asked to go further and to block prices at 1.70 euro per litre.

No clientelism, defended Jean Castex: “Do you see me telling them to circulate, there is nothing to see! Because there’s an election in less than thirty days? It is not my conception of my responsibility”.

More than 22 billion euros

Jean-Yves Mano, president of the consumer defense association CLCV, said he saw a “concrete response” but regrets that we have to wait until April 1 for its implementation. For Pierre Chasseray, general delegate of 40 million motorists, the gesture is “just normal” since “the State is currently reaping VAT revenue which exceeds the planned budget”.

Matignon defends himself by recalling that the government has already taken a battery of measures to try to contain the effects of the continuous rise in energy prices for months, aggravated by the invasion of Ukraine: gas price freeze until the end of 2022, limitation to 4% of the increase in price of electricity, exceptional energy check, inflation allowance for 38 million people, or even an increase in the scale of mileage allowances.

The total bill for energy measures had even been quantified at some 22 billion euros by the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire, including 10 billion euros for the gas price freeze and 8 billion euros for the cap. electricity tariffs.

With the global tremors in energy markets, oil prices fluctuated this week. Michel-Edouard Leclerc, chairman of the strategic committee for E.Leclerc stores, saideven anticipated on Friday on BFMTV that prices would drop from Monday. Not enough to call into question the measure according to Matignon, who will re-examine it in the event of a fall in prices, a scenario however “unlikely” given that oil prices were already high before the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, according to a spokesperson. .

Jean Castex must also unveil next week “an economic and social resilience plan” in the face of the consequences of the war, which will complete this discount measure. He also promised for professionals “measures allowing a lowering of their social and port charges”.