The dissatisfaction of French taxis, exasperated at having to pay the sum of a sticker (then 750 euros in 2022) to load customers in Monaco – without reciprocity being true for their Monegasque counterparts on French territory – , had finally brought to an agreement on the principle of “everyone at home” for several months.
“This system, which has been made inevitable during the period which has just ended, does not prove satisfactory over a large part of the yearestimated the Minister of State, Pierre Dartout. The Monegasque government must, quite legitimately, take care of the interests of Monegasque professionals to ensure that their activity is profitable. But, especially for the very big events that are coming up, there is a need for more people to participate in the effort.
“We can’t say yes to all the one-upmanship”
Monaco therefore expects France to return the favor. Which is not the case, for now. “In return for the decisions that are taken in Monaco, it is obvious that this can only work if Monegasque taxis and Monegasque discounts have access to French territory and more specifically to Nice Côte d’Azur airport. Which is not the case at the moment. I remind you that Nice Côte d’Azur airport is the second French airport, due to the dynamism of cities like Nice and Cannes but also like Monaco, which represents a significant part of the clientele of this airport.”
Without going into the details of the negotiations with the French authorities, the princely government is now calling for reciprocity. And he has arguments. “I remind you that we are 10% shareholders of Nice airport and we have a share of business customers which is very much higher than the share of the number of people who land in Nice and who then go to the Principality. from Monacoargues the government adviser Minister of Finance and the Economy, Jean Castellini. It is a high-level clientele, with strong purchasing power. For this clientele, we want the service to be qualitatively the best possible but also that quantitatively, when major events justify it (congresses, Rolex Masters, the Grands Prix, the Yacht show), we have enough professionals who can pass freely on the French side. and on the Monegasque side.”
Determined to protect the interests of Monegasque professionals, the government therefore does not intend to reconsider its position. “We have had many discussions with France for more than two months. At one time or another, we have to say what system we are proposing because we cannot systematically say yes to all the higher bids and all the additional requests that appeardecided the Minister of State. Everyone has to be reasonable in this system. We have a limited number of professionals here, there are many more on the French side. If we do not put a minimum of rules in place, the local market may be overwhelmed by the arrival of other professionals from the department.”
Indeed, the Principality has on its territory, a little less than a hundred taxis and as many vehicles of great discount. Where the neighboring department has a fleet of around 1,200 taxis and 4,000 VTCs.
mutual interests
Could this return to the sticker system, strongly criticized for years by French professionals, lead to new protest movements? This possibility obviously cannot be ruled out. “We don’t want it and we don’t think it’s in the interest of both sides of the border, said the Minister of State. We trusted everyone’s common sense and mutual interests. Monaco represents a very important economic dynamic for the Alpes-Maritimes department in terms of jobs and wealth creation. It’s in everyone’s interest that things turn out for the best.”
