2023-09-17 17:12:57
Geoffrey Branger, edited by Alexandre Dalifard / Photo credit: Marie Magnin / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
This Sunday morning, the Prime Minister announced in “Le Parisien” that distributors will be able to sell gasoline “at a loss” for a few months. A decision which, in its logic, might lead to reductions in the price of a liter at the pump. But concretely, can this bill change anything for motorists?
Elisabeth Borne goes to the rescue of motorists. The Prime Minister details in The Parisian this Sunday morning the possibilities for fuel to be cheaper, in particular by asking distributors to sell fuel at cost, or even at a loss. Which, in its logic, might lead to reductions in the price of a liter at the pump. But in concrete terms, what will this change?
The State must put its hand in its pocket
This shouldn’t change much. The price of a barrel of Brent is increasing, so in the coming days, prices at the pump will follow this trend. In this context, this does not represent a big change for motorists according to Fabrice Godefroy, mobility and environment expert for the 40 million motorists association. “A distributor who is not a producer, like Total for example, ultimately has very little margin on this. We are talking regarding one or two cents, depending on the fuel, margin. So it is a reduction which is when even quite low in the end. So, it’s not going to be enough for motorists,” he explains to Europe 1.
And then selling at a loss means you lose money. This solution is therefore not possible in the long term for small distributors. For professionals in the sector, the State should above all put its hand in its pocket rather than making totally absurd proposals, according to them. “This announcement is extremely surprising to ask distributors to sell at a loss because we know very well that this is prohibited in the law. Especially since it is the State which has the most leeway on fuel because we have a 20% VAT on a fixed TICPE and then there is an increase in fuel. So I think that there is still better to do and that the State participates in tandem with the distributors”, insists Fabrice Godfrey.
In the coming weeks, prices at the pump might well return to their level of last year, but this time, without State rebates and therefore clearly exceed 2.30 euros per liter.
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