On a subject as sensitive as the rise in fuel prices, the announcement was particularly expected.
Guest of the 20 Hours newspaper on
TF1
this Thursday evening, Jean Castex presented the measure adopted by the government to restore purchasing power to the French in the face of soaring prices at service stations.
He thwarted the forecasts by announcing the establishment of a
"middle class allowance"
of 100 euros for the 38 million French people earning less than 2000 euros net per month, and not just for motorists.
This aid will be distributed automatically, without the recipients having to take any steps, mostly in December.
Read also "Why we must lower fuel taxes"
With the backdrop of a possible return of "yellow vests" on roundabouts, Jean Castex knew the hot topic. He wanted to be receptive to purchasing power issues, the first concern of the French at the moment.
"The issue of inflation is not just about [gasoline], we need to take a broader approach"
, he said on Monday evening.
In detail, the system selected will concern employees (who will receive the envelope on their December pay slip, via their employer), the self-employed (via Urssaf), the unemployed and beneficiaries of minimum social benefits (via Pôle Emploi) or even retirees (for the latter, the aid paid by the pension funds will concern pensions of less than 1943 euros).
In all, this one-off aid will cost the state 3.8 billion euros.
The government assures that it will be able to
'
absorb without exceeding the objectives of deficits.
Several possibilities
The government has therefore chosen a system that is easy and quick to set up, through a single scale.
Several scenarios were possible to reduce the cost of fuel at the pump.
The fuel check, for which the definition of criteria was a puzzle, was therefore ruled out.
Just like the reduction in taxes, a quick and efficient device but extremely costly for the State, around 2.5 billion euros per year for a reduction of 5 cents as estimated by Bruno Le Maire
.
Other measures, such as the famous floating TICPE or the employer scheme have not borne fruit in recent years and did not leave with the favors of forecasts.
