LFI deputy Éric Coquerel denounced, on Wednesday February 8, the government's management of contracts with motorway concession companies, accusing it, among other things, of having made "
users pay an increase in inflation
", citing a report revealed by the
Canard Enchaîné
.
"
I asked to be able to access, as chairman of the Finance Committee, the report of the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) on the economic model of motorway concession companies
", writes the elected official in a press release.
.
He assures that the text confirms a “
profitability (internal shareholder rate of return) of approximately 12%, effectively + very superior + to the estimate of 7.67% which had been made during the privatization of 2006
”.
Reduce tariffs by 60%
"
If shareholder flows could have been better anticipated (...) Vinci and Eiffage/Eiffarie
", two of the main groups, "
should have paid the State several billion additional euros
", further believes Éric Coquerel, citing the IGF experts.
Le Canard enchaîné
recently found this 2021 report, which would point to the profits made by concession companies and propose to reduce tariffs by 60% on nearly two-thirds of the network.
The satirical weekly accused the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, of having "
stifled
" this report, which the government disputes.
Read alsoBertille Bayart: “The hoard of highways, so far, so close…”
According to Éric Coquerel, the report proposed "
three solutions
": "
shorten the duration of the concession, reduce the tolls
" or "
make a levy on the gross operating surplus of 2021
".
"
The authors specified that only that consisting in shortening the duration of the concession seems legally possible
", an "
adjustment (which) could be decided unilaterally by the State, on condition of a strong political will
", further criticized Éric Coquerel .
"
This report also questions the choice made by the State to systematically compensate, via the increase in toll rates, for the increase in the land development tax paid by
these companies", further points out the chairman of the Finance Committee. .
“
The State therefore makes users pay for an increase in inflation which should be paid by these private groups,
” he said.
Several disputes
The government justified the non-publication of this report because the latter "
is used to prepare and accompany
" its arguments in two existing disputes with the motorway companies, which contest a decision of 2020 to index the tax on the development territory on inflation (...) and who no longer want to pay an "
exceptional voluntary contribution
", according to the Minister of Ecological Transition Christophe Béchu.