Fuel check: there is still "work" to develop it, admits Bruno Le Maire

Go fast but do well.

This is the whole problem of setting up the fuel check to try to help the French to cope with the current soaring gasoline prices.

“There is still work to be done” to put this measure in place, the Minister of the Economy Bruno Le Maire conceded on Monday, confirming that he preferred the option of a check to a reduction in taxes.

The challenge is "above all (to) know that it can happen as quickly as possible to the French" who need it, he explained on radio Europe 1.

Bruno Le Maire on fuel prices: "I am more in favor of a device such as the fuel check rather than a reduction in taxation (...) It is very expensive: 1 cent reduction per liter of fuel is is half a billion euros "# Europe1 pic.twitter.com/gtvzmiE6Yo

- Europe 1 🎧🌍📻 (@ Europe1) October 18, 2021

In any case, Mr. Le Maire said he was "more favorable" to the creation of a fuel voucher, on the model of the energy voucher, than a reduction in taxes on diesel and gasoline.

A tax cut is "unfair" because it would not target the households that need it most and "it is very expensive", because a drop of a cent, hardly noticeable, represents "half a billion euros" less in the state coffers.

"There will be a short term action"

In addition, "it is a subsidy for fossil fuels, precisely what we want to avoid" in the strategy to fight against global warming, Mr. Le Maire said.

The government has announced on several occasions that it is considering setting up a mechanism to deal with soaring fuel prices.

"There will be short-term action," Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

Read alsoFuel prices: where to find the cheapest gas stations in France

The government has already put in place last month, with payment scheduled for December, an exceptional energy check of 100 euros for the nearly 6 million households already benefiting from this device.

The cost will be 600 million euros.

In addition, the cap on the increase in electricity prices expected in February will cost the State 5 billion euros.