The executive had failed to convince them to sell at a loss. But the government obtained, this Tuesday, September 27, from fuel distributors that they sell them “at cost price” during “nearly 120,000 operations” in 4,000 stations until the end of the year, a measure the effect of which should however remain limited.
The Carrefour and Leclerc brands have committed to carrying out such operations every day, Casino, Cora and Intermarché will carry them out two weekends per month, Système U and Auchan at least one weekend per month, detailed Matignon. The exact level of reductions granted at the pump has not been specified and will depend on each distributor.
Abandoning selling at a loss
Matignon considered having “moved the lines”, a few days after President Emmanuel Macron announced the abandonment of sales at a loss, initially desired by the government, but to which distributors had refused to accept .
The distributors’ commitment could extend into 2024, the government told the press. Leclerc and Auchan will begin their operations on Friday.
The impact of cost prices, however, risks, by the sector’s own admission, being “fairly marginal”, because large-scale distribution only sells fuels with margins of “a few cents”, recalls Patrice Geoffron, professor at Paris-Dauphine PSL University.
Furthermore, these cost price operations could have perverse effects on the network of independent stations, which do not depend on large French distributors but on foreign operators like Esso or BP, who continue to sell at market price, underlined Francis Pousse, president of the Mobilians professional union. Of around 2,400 of them, “the gap will widen” in terms of price and therefore attractiveness and “we therefore risk damaging part of the profession”, pointed out Francis Pousse.
Mission on the margins
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne welcomed distributors, refiners, and professional federations at 5:30 p.m. to “ensure the moderation of margins”, she said Tuesday before the National Assembly, where she threatened to “legislate” without giving more details.
In addition to cost price operations, the government also announced the launch of a mission to “provide transparency on the costs and margins of the entire sector”, from production to distribution including refining. .
The results of this mission will be “delivered at the beginning of December” and discussions will continue on the additional “efforts” that each of the actors could make “upstream and downstream”, indicated the government.
Concerning TotalEnergies, present across the entire value chain, “the subject of an additional effort” to capping the price of a liter of fuel at 1.99 euros “was discussed and will continue to be so in the light of the results of the mission “, he clarified. A new progress update is planned for December with stakeholders in the sector.
The tax cut, a “triple aberration”
This meeting, the day after an Ecological Planning Council, illustrates the executive’s difficulty in reconciling the reduction of polluting emissions and the preservation of purchasing power. The idea of selling at a loss will therefore only have existed for a week after its announcement by the Prime Minister, received with reluctance even among the majority. Anxious to forget this setback, the government had counted on a rapid outcome of the discussions.
Emmanuel Macron had already announced the renewal in 2024 of the “worker fuel allowance”. The measure is expected to cost around 500 million euros, as the government presents a savings budget on Wednesday aimed at getting the country out of debt. This aid has not convinced the opposition, who denounce a “check policy” and demand tax cuts in unison.
An option categorically rejected by the executive and which the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire described as a “triple aberration” before the National Assembly: “It is an ecological aberration, because it is financing the fossil fuel, “It’s a budgetary aberration because it widens the state debt hole, and it’s a geopolitical aberration, because the money goes straight into Mr. Putin’s pocket.”
“Make a move”
“It is the State, not the price of the barrel which is responsible,” said RN deputy Julien Odoul on franceinfo. Renaissance MP (ex-LR) Eric Woerth conceded on Europe 1 that the majority “was looking for ideas that do not impact public finances”. “We will continue to do everything to protect purchasing power,” assured Elisabeth Borne.
Beyond that, the abandonment of selling at a loss also sounds like a disavowal of the president with regard to his Prime Minister, with whom he has already experienced friction. A minister speaks of “something set up to (antagonize) the Prime Minister” but also does not exclude that the executive “wanted to pull off a coup by going quickly”.