PARIS (Reuters) – The government is continuing to hold discussions with major companies such as TotalEnergies and CMA CGM and hopes to convince them quickly to increase their participation in the fight against inflation, Olivier VĂ©ran said on Thursday.
“First steps have been taken, which are not enough from our point of view,” the government spokesperson told franceinfo.
“We want these efforts to be amplified (…), we continue to work and by the end of the week I hope we will be able to make announcements,” he added.
The oil group and the maritime transport group announced discounts for some of their customers at the end of June, under pressure from the government, which wanted to see private companies whose profits are boosted by the inflationary context linked to the war in Ukraine. part of the effort to support the purchasing power of the French.
Olivier VĂ©ran once again assured that the government was not in favor of the hypothesis of a tax on windfall profits.
“What we want is for this contribution from companies to be direct, that is to say that it is made directly from the company to the French”, said the government spokesperson.
A position favorably received by the CEO of CMA CGM, Rodolphe Saadé.
“I’m not convinced that taxing businesses is the solution,” said Rodolphe SaadĂ© in an interview with Le Figaro dated Thursday. “I consider that it is by using the commercial lever that we manage to help our customers and the French people.”
Despite government reluctance, 12 deputies from the Renaissance group tabled an amendment on Tuesday to the amending finance bill (PLFR) with a view to “an exceptional contribution to the profits of oil and gas companies, as well as maritime transport companies from goods (….) which achieve a turnover of more than 1 billion euros”.
This taxation, dictated by the need for public efforts in the face of the rising cost of living, would apply to the profits of 2022, up to 15% of the taxable result.
“It is a form of appeal amendment to remind large groups that if the efforts on the measures they can take appear insufficient, we can always resort to the establishment of a tax on profits” , explained to Reuters Stéphane Travert, deputy Renaissance.
(Written by Myriam Rivet with contributions from Elizabeth Pineau, edited by Bertrand Boucey and Sophie Louet)