The bill which will allow distributors to sell fuel “at a loss” for a few months “will arrive very quickly” before Parliament, government spokesperson Olivier Véran said on Sunday. “The lifting of the ban on resale at a loss for fuel distributors will be included in the bill” on commercial negotiations between producers and distributors “presented at the beginning of October,” said the minister’s office. “There is a law that will arrive very quickly […], it is imminent,” declared Olivier Véran, guest of the RTL-Le Figaro-M6 Grand Jury. “We are not saying that petrol will drop to 1.40 euros at all stations for six months. It is said that there may be commercial operations,” he added.
Many distributors have carried out fuel sales operations at cost price in recent months, but resale at a loss has been prohibited in France since 1963. Élisabeth Borne announced on Saturday that the government wishes to authorize it on an exceptional basis in order to “lower higher prices” and to fight against inflation.
On Sunday, the coordinator of LFI, Manuel Bompard, denounced on France 3 “jokes” and “appetizers” put in place by the executive. He called for “getting away from the logic of incantation” and “blocking fuel prices at, roughly, 1.50 euros”. On BFMTV, the president of Reconquête!, Éric Zemmour, criticized “tinkering” by the government, pleading for a tax cut.
Fuel prices in France have risen regularly this summer. At the beginning of September on average, SP95-E10 sold at 1.9359 euros per liter (0.9 cents compared to the previous week), diesel at 1.88 euros (2.3 cents) and SP-98 at 2 euros (stable): prices which had not been so high since April for gasoline and February for diesel, according to statistics from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.
In addition to this question of fuel, the bill which will be presented to Parliament aims to accelerate the timetable for annual negotiations between producers and distributors, to try to lower prices on the shelves. “In a period with inflation, with volatility in the prices of raw materials […], this justifies allowing large-scale distribution to get back to the table with manufacturers,” noted Olivier Véran.