2023-09-11 17:48:15
Published on September 11, 2023 at 7:12 p.m.Updated September 11, 2023 at 7:48 p.m.
How can we return part of the wonderful profits of highway companies to the state coffers? Before the summer, the executive thought it had found the solution. By arguing that it was over-profitable compared to initial forecasts, he wanted to reduce the duration of concessions, regain control of the infrastructure and sign contracts that were much more advantageous for the public authorities (or less painful for users, faced with the continued rise in costs). toll rates).
“This is the path that appears to us to be legally the most solid and economically the most promising,” praised Bruno Le Maire before the Finance Committee of the National Assembly at the end of March.
A harsh opinion
Following the hearing, the Bercy services requested the opinion of the Council of State. But at the beginning of June, woes. The highest administrative court in the country has delivered its opinion to the government, closing the door to any early termination. Consulted by “Les Echos”, their opinion is even harsh with the executive’s arguments.
On the question of excess profits from highway companies, the judges reminded the government that the concessionaires took a risk by signing their contracts. Certainly, the concessions turned out to be much more profitable than the state had anticipated.
On the one hand thanks to the historically low, even negative, rates of recent years which have allowed them to take on debt at a lower cost; on the other hand thanks to almost zero inflation for decades which reduced the cost of the work compared to initial projections.
But the story might have been different. The highway companies played, they won. “If the transfer of risks, for obvious reasons, mainly applies in cases of developments unfavorable to the concessionaire, it must also apply in cases of developments favorable to the latter,” writes the Council of State.
A risk of impasse
The judges further consider that an early termination would require “serious preparation which must be carried out rigorously”, a “notice period” and a “serious financial evaluation” – all conditions visibly not met – while the concessions are coming eventually within a relatively short period of time (between 2031 and 2036).
In addition, the Council of State points out that early termination clauses already exist in contracts. Unfortunately for the government, they provide for compensation to concessionaires, which deprives the measure of its financial interest. Clearly, early termination is a dead end.
To still cut into the profits of Vinci, Eiffage, Sanef and others, the government therefore favored another path. In the finance bill for 2024, he intends to include an ad hoc tax for all concessionaires in the transport sector. The maneuver is legally risky. In the same spring hearing at the National Assembly, Bruno Le Maire did not hide it. “Could a specific tax on motorway companies be introduced? The same contracts include a clause for stability of the tax landscape, this option would very likely turn into a dead end,” explained the Minister of the Economy.
Airports involved
A statement made, however, before another opinion from the Council of State – which the executive has not made public either. This would open the door to an increase in taxation, on the grounds that dealers have benefited from massive tax reductions in recent years (reduction in the corporate tax rate, gradual disappearance of the CVAE, etc.), and provided that the scope of the companies concerned is broadened, for example to all concessionaires in the transport sector.
The government is therefore preparing, according to our information, to include in the 2024 finance bill a new tax on the turnover of motorway companies and airports, a sort of collateral victim of this issue. This tax might bring in 500 to 600 million euros per year. The final amount will depend, among other things, on the fate reserved for ADP, because the manager of Paris airports is not legally a classic concession like in airports in the regions.
Already affected by the increase in the “Chirac tax” on plane tickets, the airline sector is very angry once morest the measure, which would represent a substantial increase in the price of tickets (between 2 euros in economy class and 60 euros in business class, according to a source). Just like highway concessionaires, airport managers will probably go to court to try to “turn this government tax innovation into a dead end.”
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