Sale of fuel "at a loss": a bill "very quickly" in Parliament, assures Véran

The bill that will allow distributors to sell fuel "at a loss" for a few months "will arrive very quickly" before Parliament, said Sunday the spokesman of the government Olivier Véran. "There is a law that will arrive very quickly (...), it is imminent," said the minister, guest of the Grand Jury RTL-Le Figaro-M 6. "We are not saying that petrol will fall to 1.40 euros in all stations for six months. It is said that there can be commercial operations," he added.

Many distributors have in recent months carried out operations to sell fuel at cost, but resale at a loss has been prohibited in France since 1963. Elisabeth Borne announced Saturday that the government wants to authorize it on an exceptional basis in order to "lower prices further" and fight inflation.

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On Sunday, LFI coordinator Manuel Bompard denounced on France 3 "jokes" and "appetizers" set up by the executive. He called for "getting out of the logic of incantation" and "blocking fuel prices at, approximately, 1.50 euros".

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On BFMTV, the president of Reconquest! Eric Zemmour criticized a "tinkering" of the government, pleading for a tax cut.

The bill to be introduced in Parliament will also aim to speed up the timing of annual negotiations between producers and distributors. "In a period with inflation, with volatility in commodity prices (...) this justifies allowing large retailers to get back around the table with manufacturers," said Olivier Véran.

Fuel prices in France have risen steadily this summer: at the beginning of September on average, SP95-E10 was selling 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): tariffs that had not been so high since April for gasoline and February for diesel, according to statistics from the Ministry of Ecological Transition.