France is planning to provide a rebate of 0.15 euros ($0.16) per litre of transport fuel to help drivers cope with surging prices, Prime Minister Jean Castex said in an interview with a newspaper on Saturday.
The measure will apply for four months beginning on April 1, and is expected to cost the government around 2 billion euros, the Prime Minister told Le Parisien.
The rebate will help anyone who buys fuel, specifically households, businesses, taxi drivers, truckers and fishermen and could save motorists nine euros on a 60 litre tank, he said, adding:
“I ask oil companies and distributors to also make an effort on their side. Given their financial situation, I call on them to make an additional gesture.
“If the state makes an effort of 15 cents per litre, and if they make an effort of 5 cents, for example, it is indeed 20 cents that must end up in the pocket of the French.”
Distributors of gasoline and diesel will apply the discount at the pump and then will be reimbursed by the government, which Mr Castex said is quicker than voting in a tax cut and will also benefit the companies that are exempted from fuel levies.
It comes as President Emmanuel Macron gears up his campaigning for a second term in the next presidential election.
The rebate is on top of 20 billion euros Macaron’s government has already spent on tax cuts and subsidies to reduce gas and electricity bills.
Energy prices have reached record highs this year and prices are only expected to rise amidst Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Russia is the third biggest producer of oil in the world and has been accused of limiting its gas supplies into Europe as a means of placing political pressure on the EU.
Russia threatened to stop gas supplies to Europe for the first time since the invasion in comments by Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak to state television on Monday- a move which would cripple the EU’s economy.
However, on Tuesday the European Commission announced that Brussels will slash its reliance on Russian gas by two-thirds and end imports completely by 2030 in response to Putin’s war.
