Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne announced that distributors will be able to sell gasoline “at a loss” for a few months in order to allow them to “lower prices further”, in an interview posted online on Saturday on the website of the Parisian.
The head of government did not accept the opposition’s proposals which call for either a rebate like a year ago, or a reduction in gasoline taxation to deal with the surge in fuel prices which have reached the bar of two euros per liter.
No fuel subsidy
“With this unprecedented measure, we will have tangible results for the French, without subsidizing fuel,” she assured, after recalling that selling at a loss has been prohibited by law since 1963. “Everyone takes their share” , she affirmed, assuring that “it is normal to involve large industrialists”, while recalling that “the responsibility of the State is also to reduce its deficit and its debt”.
Asked about the comments of the national secretary of the PCF, Fabien Roussel, who this week called on the French “to invade service stations and supermarkets”, Élisabeth Borne said she was “surprised” by declarations which were not “in his habits”. “I called him to tell him that it was a very bad message and that political leaders had to be very careful with their words in a context where there can be anger among some of our fellow citizens,” he said. -she declared.
On the question of purchasing power, the head of government rejected the RN’s proposal to eliminate VAT on food products, calling on the far-right party to read “the studies which proved that going from 5.5% at 0% is very often not reflected in prices.”