Queues return to petrol stations as government and TotalEnergies cut fuel rebates
The fuel rebates put in place by the government and TotalEnergies are set to drop by 20 and 10 cents per litre respectively as of Wednesday, 16 November. Queues have formed again in front of certain service stations as motorists seek a last cut-price tankfull.
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Many service stations were out of fuel on Monday, especially in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the central Ile-de-France region surrounding Paris, with motorists hoping to fill up on subsidised fuel ahead of the price changes.
On Wednesday, the discount of 30 cents per litre financed by the State since 1 September will drop to 10 cents, and that of TotalEnergies will drop from 20 to 10 cents.
The 20 cent discount offered in 3,500 TotalEnergies service stations was due to stop at the end of October, but was extended in the face of the strike movement within the group.
The government measures were put in place to counterbalance runaway inflation and the energy crisis due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Purchasing power
"We would like it to be renewed, it is in everyone's interest if it continues like this, otherwise it will generate tension. I hope that the yellow vests will not come back", taxi driver Gaétan Jeune, told news agency AFP, referring to the anti-government protest movement that started in 2018 over fuel price hikes.
"I put 14 litres, multiplied by 30 cents, that's immediately a few euros more, and that's more purchasing power", Adrien François, a restaurant employee pointed out.
The situation has not yet returned to normal in several areas, following the recent strike by workers in distribution depots and refineries.
On Monday, nearly 13 percent of French service stations were completely dry, according to a government website.
Many stations were still out of at least one type of fuel on Monday.
Ile-de-France, Lyon and its surroundings, as well as Bourgogne-Franche-Comté were experiencing particular difficulties.
These areas depend on the Feyzin refinery (Rhône), the last to end the strike on 8 November, and Gonfreville-l'Orcher (Seine-Maritime), where work resumed on 31 October.
It takes between ten and fifteen days to resume production in the wake of a work stoppage, explained Francis Pousse, president of Mobilians, a trade union representing 5,800 service stations.
Struggling to make ends meet
Asked on Sunday on BFMTV about the outlines of the targeted aid which will take over at the start of 2023, government spokesperson Olivier Véran confirmed that it could concern between 11 and 12 million people.
He did not give details, saying that rebates would be kept in place "for as long as necessary".
Gabriel Attal, Minister of Public Accounts told the media that the aid would be be aimed at "people who are struggling to make ends meet" and would be "conditional on having earned income" .
Quantifying the budget for this aid at "€1.5 or 1.6 billion, he compared it to the provision that the government had planned for last summer and which had been set aside in favour of extending the rebate.
The people concerned will "automatically receive the aid in [their] bank account, after a few days", he promised.
"We cannot afford a discount for life," Attal told LCI television on Monday, specifying that the measure had already cost "more than 7 billion euros this year".
In addition, "this aid also finances people from neighboring countries, who come to refuel in France". There are "people who need it, and others who do not" he said.
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