Subsidies could mean petrol could cost 60p less per litre in France than UK
Government and corporation discounts in France mean that the French people could see fuel prices equivalent to 60p lower than in the UK.
The French government has extended its fuel discount that was due to end at the end of July, and also increase the size of the discount.
In France, the government announced government-subsidised fuel discounts at a large cost to state funds in the spring of this year. Those discounts were due to end at the end of this month (July 2022), but recently have been extended and increased.
Initially, the discount was 18 cents per litre, but that will be increased to 30 cents per litre from September to October, before reducing to 10 cents per litre in November and December, Le Repaire des Motards reports.
In addition to this, TotalEnergies, the oil company and fuel retailer, has somewhat mirrored the commitments of the French government. This means that TotalEnergies, which at the start of July announced a 12-cent discount per litre to run until the end of August, will now continue its discount through the rest of the year.
Not only that, but TotalEnergies will, like the government, also increase its discount from the original 12 cents to 20 cents between 1 September and 1 November, before reducing it to 10 cents from November until the end of December.
Furthermore, Le Repaire des Motards reports that the original discount was only applicable to TotalEnergies’ motorway petrol stations, but that will now be extended to cover all of the company’s petrol stations in France.
This means that, in France, fuel will be able to be found for as little as €1.50 per litre when the government and TotalEnergies discounts are combined. That is equivalent to around £1.27 per litre. Not inexpensive, when considering the prices of the past, but compared to the £1.90 per litre (or thereabouts) that we are looking at here in the UK - even with recent (temporary) price falls - it is a considerable reduction.
Of course, this is because- while in France the people see now a double-discount (albeit a temporary one), we in the UK have a double-tax: VAT and fuel duty.
Second in-text image, Total petrol station, courtesy of ell brown, licensed under CC BY 2.0.
